Within the Mist Lies the Truth
by Murasaki-en
Summary: The Varia officers are struck by the newcomer: a small and petite girl. How would the deal with it? How would the new Varia Cloud guardian cope with her companions? What secrets does this girl hide? Read to find out. It's basically Fran x OC.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Ah, Bel-senpai, can I remove the knives from my back?" asked the green-haired illusionist. "It's starting to hurt you know," he continued in an indifferent tone.

"Polish them before you return them to me," Belphegor ordered. He had used Fran for target practice seeing as blood never splattered out of the latter's back.

"Yada, do that yourself," Fran replied. He started plucking the sharp objects and dropped three of them on the floor of their headquarters.

"If you drop one more of my knives, your limbs will be rolling on the floor," Belphegor said, and he meant it… probably. So Fran immediately stopped dropping them and started bending the remaining knives he had that the self-proclaimed prince owned. Belphegor threatened Fran again and earned the same nonchalant look Fran always had. The Mist Guardian's grip on the few knives thrown at him slackened, it made a clinking sound upon meeting the floor. "Ka-ching."

"Ah, yabai, this is bad," Fran commented. In just a few seconds afterwards, the senpai and the kouhai engaged in battle. That was when the guardian with the loudest voice and also the longest hair appeared.

"VOOOI! What are you guys doing?" Superbi Squalo shouted with his annoying and grating voice, at least that's how it seemed to Fran.

"It's none of your business," Belphegor answered.

"Nani?" Squalo got furious. With another vooii, he entered the battlefield.

A few minutes later, Squalo, Fran, and Belphegor created such a racket that Lussuria and Levi decided to investigate the whole situation. They were greeted at a place that was once before a pleasant living room. Knives were stuck on the ceiling and on the walls. Sword scratches were seen on the floor. They weren't surprised to see their fellow companions squabbling and teasing each other since it happened almost every day, so did all the repairs and customizations to the headquarters. Both Lightning and Sun guardians jumped into the fray and immediately, a free-for-all- battle issued. Belphegor let loose his knives to the illusions that Fran conjured. Those illusions were replicas of him. Lussuria was too busy trying to capture Squalo's attention by striking erotic poses enough to make a girl barf; while Squalo was occupied with Levi's attacks.

"Ushishishi," chuckled the Knife Prince, as commoners would dub him.

"Bel-senpai, you just hit the wrong me," stated Fran, matter-of-factly.

"Voooii! Eat this!" Squalo shouted.

"Squalo-chan, look at me! Look at me!" Lussuria demanded Squalo whilst posing since he didn't want to join the fight as much as Levi did.

"Levi Lightning!" Levi summoned lightning from his black umbrellas that acted as parabolas and fired it at the direction of Squalo who dodged. The attack hit Lussuria squarely in the face. The Sun guardian of the Varia fumed because of this and caused much damage and havoc to those around him. Just as they were about to unleash their box weapons, intent on the battle on hand, all five could hardly hear the door creak open and see a small, petite girl who had a huge baggage of some sort strapped to her back appear.

Belphegor mistook this for another of Fran's illusions and threw a volley of knives at the girl's direction. She raised her hands and caught six of them by her fingers and dodged the other four at the nick of time.

"Uhm… sumimasen for coming here unannounced but I have something I wish to tell you boss, Xanxus," the girl said in a soft but confident voice. When she received no reply from the five present, she bowed slightly and briskly walked away. She approached a huge oak door and paused. "I assume that this is where Xanxus stays, yes?" she turned, looking at the guardians. They all nodded numbly in reply, too stunned to take action. She lifted her white, pale knuckles and rapped on the door's sturdy frame.

"Trash, come in," and so she did. Xanxus was surprised that it wasn't Squalo or any of his other pesky guardians. "Who are you? What are you doing here? I have many things to do so hurry up," Xanxus commanded although the statement that he was busy was actually a lie, yes; he was busy lounging on his big, red comfy chair but nothing more than that.

"If you would excuse my rudeness, I came to deliver a letter from the Ninth," she said politely. She handed the letter to the boss; he took it seeing that the authentic stamp of the Vongola Ninth Boss was present. He quickly scanned the piece of paper, crumpled it, then stared at the little girl slouching in front of him.

"Aoi Tsubasa is it?" he asked.

"Hai," he stared at her once more while she fidgeted with the hem of her shirt, unused to the amount of attention he gave her. He was having second doubts of her joining the Varia and whether she was worth the trouble or not. Well, he had his assurance that she's strong since the old man recommended her.

"You're hired," he decided. He tossed the Cloud Varia ring and the Cloud Varia box to the short girl. "If you fail me, I shall dispose of you personally," he added.

"I understand. Arigatou," Aoi replied, not bothered by the last sentence of her boss. She bowed her head then left the room.

This is Aoi Tsubasa at the moment.

Her past was shrouded by mystery: No one where she came from. No one knew who her relatives were, heck, no one even knew when she was born. All they knew was that she appeared lying unconscious on the snow during a cold winter's day and by chance (or was it luck?) the Vongola Ninth found her. He didn't waste any moment to chitchat; he immediately sent for his medical team to treat her wounds. The Ninth brought her to his mansion, waiting for her to wake.

For a small and petite girl, Aoi had quite an appetite. After she opened her eyes and stretched, her first word wasn't "Arigatou" nor was it "Where am I?" but it was "Food…" In an instant, the Ninth Boss offered her the delicacies the Vongola could offer: clams… and other varieties of unique food.

"My dear child, what's your name?" he had kindly asked.

Aoi hesitated on telling her name to a complete stranger, this was completely understandable in normal circumstances. But the circumstances now were different. She was safe and sound inside a mansion, comfortably clothed, properly bandaged and well fed. She couldn't see any reason why to not reveal her identity. "It's Aoi Tsubasa, sir. You can call me Aoi," she finally replied.

After a few days of staying over at the Vongola estate, enjoying its hospitality, the boss learned that Aoi was really strong. She could defeat anyone who fought against her regardless of their gender, size and ability. Even without a box weapon, she could strike hordes of soldiers who possessed them to their feet, senseless, with only a… well, whatever she was holding on her hand. Be it a fork, a knife, a sword, a baseball bat or even a carton of milk, she could fend off her opponents. Because of her talents and her use of anything as fighting equipment, Vongola the Ninth presented her a Hell Ring. The Hell Ring that was possessed by no one yet: this was the Horn-shaped Ring. He told her to ignite it up with her resolution. In just a second, purple light illuminated the room. Even without practice, her Cloud dying will flame could compare to that of Xanxus's or even to the extent of the current Cloud guardian of Tsuna's family. What amazed him even further was that even if the Hell rings were a type of Mist weapon, a cloud flame sprouted out. How did that happen? He asked her with wonder in his voice, "Who _exactly_ are you?"

"I don't know," the Ninth was taken aback, "all I know is my name and that I have to find a certain someone, but even the name of that person, I have forgotten," she continued sadly.

"Well," the Ninth clapped his hands together, "seeing that you are currently at a loss for a while, you can join the Varia Assassination Squad of the Vongola. They're looking for someone to fill in the position of the Varia Cloud guardian. Here's the letter for your recommendation. I am absolutely sure Xanxus will accept you. Think of it as a payback for all the things I've done for you."

"I knew there was a price for all that. Very well, I shall go. Arigatou gozaimasu," she bowed her head slightly deeper than usual and left to find a way to bring her to the Varia headquarters. It seemed like in just a blink of an eye, she was approved by the somewhat scary boss and was now facing her new teammates carrying her luggage, blue hair in a lose ponytail, wearing a loose white shirt and shorts that reached her knee. She never was a fan of frilly girly dresses as she found it too… noticeable. She found herself in the middle of introducing her name and saw traces of disapproval on the faces of the burly-looking, spiky haired man and the one with long silver hair. A boy wearing a huge frog hat who looked slightly her age (around sixteen to seventeen), looked disinterested and the guy who seemed gay because of the tiara perched precariously on his blonde hair was just sharpening his knives. Lastly, the guy who was wearing sunglasses for no obvious reason was prancing about and swinging his pinky.

What had she gotten into?

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><p>oh crap, just imagine that the ninth is alive during this story. :P<p>

hope you find it to your liking.

read and review please! they are appreciated. XD


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Aoi sighed. What kind of cold welcome was that? Just because she was a girl didn't mean that she'd get treated that way. None of her new fellow Varia officers actually fitted the category: friend. They had such different personalities. She wasn't entirely sure whether she'd feel comfortable with them around. She wasn't even sure whether she could trust them with her life. They all looked treacherous. Well, maybe not the one with the green hair. She sighed again, she hadn't thought of asking their names and they hadn't thought of sharing them at all. Maybe they thought I wasn't worth it.

The violet-eyed girl stared around her the room she was led to by the servants, it was filthy. It was dark, dusty and smelled like who knows what. She sighed for the umpteenth time in the duration of the day. There was no point in sitting down on the grimy floor. The room won't get clean if she just did nothing. She stood up, patted her clothes which once belonged to a boy, tied her hair higher up and proceeded to the tiring and gruesome task of straightening up the room.

She had asked one of the maids to bring her a broom, a dustpan, a rag, a bucket of water and a mop. The maid almost looked at her with sympathy. She contemplated that the new Varia officer looked terribly weak compared to the others. She even looks like a scullery maid! No refinement at all. She shook her head ever so slightly, although this was seen by Aoi, and walked out of the room.

Meanwhile, in the living room, where the rest of the officers/guardians except for Xanxus lounged, Squalo was shouting stuff that concerned the girl. "What kind of joke is this? A girl joining THE Varia? What stupidity! What happened to the boss?"

"If you're so concerned about that weakling, then why don't you talk to Boss about it?" Belphegor suggested.

"I will!" Squalo stormed off, possibly to argue with him that Aoi was not meant to be a guardian because she was too weak.

"What do you think about her Fran?" Bel asked his kouhai.

"Nothing much. I don't care about her," he replied.

"Maa, maa, why don't we test her how strong she is? Let's just attack her randomly when she's lowered her guard," Lussuria said. Levi grunted in agreement.

"Heh, so, who would be first?" Bel asked. Silence. "Jaa, Lussuria, why don't you start? Followed by Levi, then me, then Squalo, and lastly Fran."

"Eeh? Senpai, why am I the last?"

"Because I told you so."

"Ara, that's fine with me," Lussuria said, waving a pinky. "I'll start after she takes a bath. That's when girls are the most vulnerable," he continued with a smile. "Will you guys watch what I'm going to do?" he winked.

"Probably," the three conspirators answered, grossed out.

Finally! Aoi's room started to look clean! It was actually sparkling! She was proud of her efforts. But man, was she tired. Her skin was sticky with sweat. She grabbed her towel and bathing supplies and headed to the nearest shower where Belphegor, Fran, Levi and Lussuria were waiting.

It took only about ten minutes until Aoi was finished with her bath. She felt refreshed and well, whatever you feel whenever you take a bath. She thought that she could take on her group mates.

"Ara, Aoi-chan, abunai!" Lussuria said, slipping on the banana he purposely set on the floor. He grabbed whatever was the nearest thing to support him; and that support happened to be Aoi's towel. Half of her breasts suddenly got exposed. Everyone's face turned red, including Lussuria who was reportedly gay. He jumped up and did his flash step around Aoi.

"Kyaa! Hentai!" Aoi screamed, cheeks red, she gathered her towel and tied it firmly around her body. The nearest thing to be used as a weapon was the towel on her hair. She got it, setting her hair tumbling down; she then lunged and kicked Lussuria where he precisely was without a second of hesitation. The Sun guardian was surprised; no one had done that in years! With him outbalanced, Aoi used the towel and swiftly wrapped it around Lussuria's throat, achieving a chokehold. She almost used her knee to kick his unprotected back with immense force when she remembered that she was just wearing a towel. Instead of kicking, she released the chokehold and punched Lussuria in the face, knocking him senseless. Levi, Belphegor and Fran could only blink their eyes at the defeated Lussuria.

The fact that Aoi just laid a comrade senseless in a few seconds had just registered in her mind. She sensed people watching. She looked around and heard suppressed ushishi's. She hopped on the sofa and looked behind it. Bingo, she caught Bel attempting to stifle his laugh.

"Ehh… what were you guys doing here?" she asked innocently, anger reflecting from her violet eyes.

"Laughing," Fran covered up.

"Ahh… I see. You better take care of that gay dude over there. I accidentally uhm… rendered him unconscious, as you might have seen," she herself was trying to stop the peals of laughter threatening to burst forth. "Ja ne!" she headed towards her bedroom to get dressed.

"This might just get interesting…" Levi muttered.

Aoi slammed the door as she entered her room. She noticed that the maids cleaned up after her. Jeez. They should have done that before she arrived. "Aa-" Aoi gingerly picked up the Varia uniform. It was slightly modified. It had the same top but she was forced to wear a skirt and black long socks. God, how she hated skirts, she would definitely wear shorts underneath. She noticed that the package had a note written in big capital letters.

**TO BE WORN AT ALL COSTS. NO EXCEPTIONS. YOU MAY ADD ANY UNECESSARY ACCESSORY. STRICTLY IMPLIED. YOU WILL MEET A GRUESOME END IF YOU TEND TO DO OTHERWISE.**

She exhaled; she hadn't realized that she was holding her breath for the time she read the instructions. _Safe_. The Cloud guardian of the Varia then wore her uniform. She was pleased that it turned out to be really comfortable, the smallest size happened to be quite loose on her. Apparently, this was built for males but she guessed it would do a pinch. She grabbed her Varia ring, slipped it to her finger, pocketed the box weapon and wore the Hell ring on a chain around her neck. Aoi hadn't realized that it was late in the night already. She half-expected the other guardians to be awake but found out that all of them retired to bed. All the better, she grimly thought, she hadn't wanted them to hear her play the instrument she was holding. She plopped on the floor by the window, and using the light of the full moon and started to sing in a sweet but sad voice.

_Kazesasou kokage ni utsubusete naiteru_

_Mi mo shiranu watashi wo watashi ga miteita_

_Yuku hito no shirabe wo kanaderu GITAARA_

_Konu hito no nageki ni hoshi ha ochite_

_Yukanaide, donna ni sakende mo_

_ORENJI no hanabira shizuka ni yureru dake_

_Yawarakana hitai ni nokosareta_

_Te no hira no kioku haruka_

_Tokoshie no sayonara tsuma hiku_

That's was when her guitar picked up the rhythm.

_Yasashii te ni sugaru kodomo no kokoro wo_

_Moesakaru kuruma ha furiharai susumu_

_Yuku hito no nageki wo kanadete GITAARA_

_Mune no ito hageshiku kakinarashite_

Fran was half-awake. For some reason his ears picked up a lonely tune. He shook his head, telling himself that he was just dreaming and that the song he was hearing was probably the sound brought by the wind. It was a windy night after all. A windy and cold night, he corrected himself.

_Aa kanashimi ni somaranai shirosa de_

_ORENJI no hanabira yureteta natsu no kage ni_

_Yawarakana hitai wo nakushite mo_

_Akaku someta suna haruka koete yuku_

_Sayonara no RIZUMU_

What the hell, that song is getting too persistent. He couldn't resist his urge to check the voice out. After all, he was curious, and it was the attitude of a teenager to be restless.

_Omoide wo yakitsukushite susumu daichi ni_

_Natsukashiku me fuite yuku mono ga aru no_

He followed the sound of the guitar and was struck by what he saw. He saw the newcomer… it was breathtaking. "Aoi… her name was Aoi right?" He questioned himself. Aoi looked really peaceful and really sad. She actually felt depressed. She had a feeling that this song would make her remember the past. She sung the last verse with such feeling, as if she was mourning for a loss, which in a sense she was, sort of. It was the loss of her memory.

_Akatsuki no kuruma wo miokutte_

_ORENJI no hanabira yureteru ima mo dokoka_

_Itsuka mita yasurakana yoake wo_

_Mou ichido te ni suru made_

_Kesanaide tomoshibi_

_Kuruma ha mawaru yo_

The guitar faded to a pause. She looked up from the guitar frets; she had somehow felt that someone was watching. She shrugged her foreboding away and continued singing.

Fran, in his moment of indecision, decided to hide at the last minute, he reentered his bedroom and gently closed the door. He didn't want to be seen by the blue-haired girl. Suddenly the picture of her in a towel, almost exposed, flashed on his mind. His cheeks began to redden. Wait… what was that? He was so confused that his head hurt. He threw himself to his bed and suddenly laughed. No one could hear him anyway, that annoying sempai was asleep; so what's the harm?

Around the same time, Sachie pictured the gay dude knocked senseless. His pose was well, really, really funny. She had to laugh. What was the harm of it all?

In the middle of the night, their two voices mingled with each other. They laughed and laughed, Aoi not knowing she was laughing with Fran and vice versa.

"VOOOIII! URUSAI! I'M TRYING TO SLEEP HERE!" Squalo shouted, obviously irritated, his talk with Xanxus failed. Slowly, the laughter dwindled into soft chuckles and finally stopped.

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><p>VOOII! Trash, are your ears still intact?<p>

LOLOLOLOL. XD XD XD

Epic fail Lussuria, EPIC fail.

thanks for the review Princess3975. ^^

yay. *jumps up and down*

oh yeah, before I forget, the song above was the acoustic version of Akatsuki no Kuruma. It's awesome. :P


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"VOOIII!" came Squalo's wake-up call which could be heard even past walls of solid concrete. Aoi tried to muffle his loud shout with her pillow. It was soo early in the morning. Can't a person who stayed half of the night playing the guitar get some sleep? But she had no choice to get up.

"Everyone! Out of their beds right now!" Squalo commanded. The sleepy guardians had no choice but to follow the order given to them. Doors opened revealing each of them wearing pajamas, except for Squalo who was wearing the full regalia of a Varia Officer.

Aoi yawned as she stepped out of her bedroom, clad in a size XXL white shirt and striped pj's, her hair in disarray. Fran was doing the same thing whilst wearing the frog cap that Bel forced him to wear.

"Ehh… what are we doing here so early pseudo-boss?" Fran asked.

"Voi! We have a new mission!" for a while, everyone brightened up. The prospect of something to do excited them all. They had been cooped up far too long. "We have to assassinate a whole family, this family, is called Cicspulo," he continued. "I have devised an attack plan- VOOI! Where are you going? I'm talking here!"

"Uhm… " Aoi raised her hand to capture Squalo's attention, "Can we fix up first? We can't possibly do a mission in our pajamas."

"Nnn…. Aah… yes, sure, be back here in 15 minutes!" Squalo said. That little girl had some nerve.

As the assassins head towards the shower area, Belphegor, Levi, Lussuria and Fran swapped looks. It was Levi's turn to test the girl. The tallest guy of the squad grinned in anticipation. He wouldn't let his boss down because of the mission and he would prove to him that Aoi didn't deserve to be in the Varia. It didn't look like she could kill a group of people; she could only knock them senseless, unless she was holding a sharp, pointy object which had never happened yet.

In a span of 13 minutes, they had all finished dressing up with the exception of Aoi. They all got impatient and agreed that they would fetch her themselves. They opened the entrance to Aoi's room; she was just slipping the last item of her outfit: her short shorts on. "What? There's still a minute left, there was no need for you guys to fetch me," she said as if reading their thoughts. She walked past them and raised an eyebrow when they didn't budge, "What? You're not coming?" she asked impatiently.

All the guys had to control their tempers. No. This was all wrong. A little, insignificant girl couldn't possibly order them around. They took a deep breath and followed. Squalo then took the lead and Aoi fell behind. It was her first official mission yet instead of being enthusiastic, she was in a foul mood. This was not good. Not good at all. The root of all this? The skirt. Damn that skirt. Aoi hated wearing anything girly. She despised it. Abhorred it. Loathed it. She was cursing herself silently when she found herself alone. She looked around; she was standing on a tree, in a forest out of nowhere. She dropped to the ground and felt a hostile presence. Oh… so she was the bait. Aoi sighed. Mataku… they could have told her before they left. Then she remembered that it was she who had interrupted Squalo before he could explain. That fueled her irritation even more. Now, she wasn't certain if she could hold herself back.

"You, who are you? State your intentions," a voice with a touch of superiority came from the vast darkness stretching in front of her.

Another voice, which was high-pitched and seemed to be in the verge of panic stopped the previous speaker saying, "Boss, it's dangerous! She's part of the Varia, stand back!" the dude then barked out a command, "Attack!"

When Squalo's ears picked up this word, he was pleased, and so was Levi. He thought that his plan was working. Now, the undeserved would die. No one could face against a whole army of people armed with box weapons. You had a stunning total of zero percent to survive situations like this, unless you happen to be really strong or really lucky.

"Senpai, aren't we going to attack?" Fran asked in his usual cold demeanor.

"No, we're gonna wait for the girl to get slaughtered before we retaliate," Bel slyly replied.

"Oh, I see," Fran had no qualms about it; everything seemed okay with him although a normal person would think that Bel's statement was full of evil intent.

But Aoi, who was pissed off to the extreme, ticked off at everything: the skirt, the whole Varia business, the unanswered questions running in her head, her uncertain and murky past, decided to hold back. She smirked; it wasn't worth it to take out her anger at the people in front of her. However, it's been a long time since she had the opportunity to kill people, might as well enjoy it. The last time was when she wiped out a whole mafia family of researchers when she was a kid. Her grin faded from her face. She remembered just a little bit of detail of her past.

No, the Cicspulo's army wasn't scared. After all, they were fighting against an opponent from Varia who was still just recently recruited. They were glad that they weren't against Prince the Reaper or Squalo, the strongest swordsman of the era. They felt that their number was sufficient enough to defeat the girl with a slender build. They were about to find out that they just committed a fatal mistake, and this mistake might just cost them their lives.

"Chaarge!" they shouted, scaring most of the forest life.

"Yare, yare, it's bad to gang up on a girl, you know," Aoi calmly said, holding her ground. At the last minute, a few seconds before they stampeded on her, the cloud flame lighted up; it's size so tremendous. In a flash, the soldiers saw that they, instead on stabbing the girl, gutted their boss. "Let's play Hide and Seek. Winner takes all. Saa… Find me!" Aoi's cheerful voice rang loud and clear; as if she hadn't done anything wrong.

Immediately, the soldiers lunged for her. Due to their haste, they stumbled and fumbled as they couldn't seem to catch Aoi who looked like she was everywhere at once. When one person thought he had got her, afterwards, he would notice that he had just killed his friend. Not so long after Aoi had started the bloody game, there were only ten who remained. Those people formed a tight circle, hoping to predict where Aoi appeared next. But she noticed a flaw in their formation. She materialized in the middle amidst the ten's petrified stares.

"Eeeh… time's up. I win… for the umpteenth time," she announced, disappointed that they didn't last at least an hour playing her fun game. She used her cloud flames and coated it around the pencil she kept inside her pocket for emergency uses; whether to poke someone's eye out or to scribble some notes, whichever came first. She discovered that pencils made good, inconspicuous weapons when she was a little girl. With a wave of her hand, the pencil's number increased from one to ten. They shot forward, imbedding themselves in the hearts of the last of the Cicspulo Family. When the bodies of the dead dropped to the ground with a thud, she suddenly remembered doing the same thing for entertainment with somebody, but she couldn't quite recall who. She sighed and walked over to where Bel, Fran, Lussuria, and Squalo stayed. She plopped down on the ground beside Fran, not a wound on her, not a trace of blood on her hands.

"Jeez, you could have at least told me I was the bait," Aoi complained to no one in particular.

"You damn bastard, it was your fault for interrupting me while I was about to explain!" Squalo shouted. Aoi couldn't take acting like a good girl. She was being unfairly treated even if she interrupted for the good of the group.

"Well, it was your fucking fault that you woke me up so early in the fucking morning!" she retorted, her voice escalating.

"Voooii! I had to! That damn boss said to get this worthless mission done with as soon as possible!" They began arguing. It was beginning to look like a pingpong match. It was so amusing the way that Aoi made such a big deal out of a small issue. Levi and the others couldn't help but watch Aoi and Squalo verbally abusing each other, waiting to see who would win this round.

"It's still your fault Mr. Effeminate guy whose hair is longer and more elegant than a girl's," she insulted, "I bet you wake up early in the morning just to wash and comb your long and silver locks," she cracked a smile. Squalo couldn't think of a comeback, he was too shocked to do so. No one had dared to badmouth him in ages, save for Xanxus who did that every day. Aoi pictured Squalo sitting in front of a mirror combing his hair with a blue, plastic hairbrush. Whoops, uh oh. She laughed and laughed until she cried, tears glistening in the corners of her eyes. "Vooi! I'll die if I have a bad hair day," Aoi mimicked Squalo badly, struggling to show a straight face while doing so. She burst into peals of laughter again, clutching her aching stomach.

"Trash," Squalo muttered. All he could do was to walk away. "I have to report the outcome of this mission to the boss."

"Eeh… what a lame excuse," Aoi said while massaging the sides of her mouth which started to hurt after smiling too much. She got up and followed the sword master, giggling once in a while.

"Heh, it seems like I'll have an interesting time testing her," Bel thought.

"Ah, senpai, we're getting left behind," Fran said, still having not moved an inch from his sitting position.

"Ushishishi, let's get going then," the prince replied.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Having witnessed Aoi singlehandedly assassinate the whole Cicspulo clan by herself, Levi and Lussuria admitted defeat. She had proven to them that she was indeed Varia quality. He and Lussuria finally thought that Aoi was worth it for their squad; therefore they introduced themselves to her as soon as they returned to their base. Aoi patiently listened to them. She showed her acceptance and grinned then made an excuse to leave. She still had to sort the things she now remembered. She was very eager to know her past, the person she was searching for and how did she end up unconscious. This also gave her the chance to rest. Aoi sighed. Out of the blue, knives flew at her from all directions. She knew all too well that those were owned by none other than Belphegor. Rumors she had heard about him state that he was the smartest in the Varia, and that he joined according to his own will after murdering his brother. She was able to deflect one of those knives with a… spoon. How she was able to do that, Bel never found out.

"Ushishishi, I don't want you in Varia, I disapprove of your existence here. Until I rip your body into shreds, I won't be satisfied," Belphegor said.

Aoi whistled, "Okay, how do I prove it to you that I'm worth it?"

"Defeat me, if you can."

"That's it?" Aoi raised her eyebrows.

"It won't be easy, little girl."

The battle started when Bel charged her head-on. He would prove to his stupid Varia officers that Aoi was not fitted to be with them. Stupid and idiotic plans like that of the gay bastard and that big dumbass would never work. He had thought of a full-proof plan that had no holes in them. Belphegor threw his unending supply of knives in Aoi's direction. Like many of his previous fights, he had attached nylon, transparent strings to each of them. He would create a trap that no one would ever escape from. Bel smiled evilly at his soon to be skewered opponent. Aoi, on the other hand, fell for it, hook, line and sinker. She was enclosed by strings that could cut through skin thus; she was covered in tiny wounds, panting from exhaustion from dodging whatever Bel threw.

"Bow down before me!" Bel commanded at the worn-out Aoi. All he got for an answer was the sound of grumbling stomach. She looked at him in embarrassment. So that's why she was holding a spoon! She was on her way to the bedroom to think and eat to get rid of her bad mood.

Aoi, who at that moment was close to fainting from hunger, requested, "Ne, can we do this some other time?"

"No," Bel replied. "If you surrender now, I will never accept you as part of Varia," he continued. More sounds issued from her stomach.

"Fine," she said. Just as she was about to give up, Xanxus chose to enter the lounging area. He saw Aoi encased by strings and Belphegor wielding a knife.

"Trash," the boss said, pointing to the prince,"come with me, we have something to discuss." Belphegor, truly loyal to Xanxus unwillingly drew back his knives, freeing Aoi and followed his superior out of the area.

Aoi, thankful for the distraction Xanxus had provided, ran to her room. Her eyesight was already blurring due to the lack of food. She couldn't see the approaching figure. BAM! Aoi fell to the floor hard on her back. "I'm so sorry!" she shouted before she could stop herself from apologizing. The person she had bumped into raised an eyebrow, dusted himself and stood up. Fran didn't bother to hold out a hand for the girl lying on the floor.

"Ah-" he muttered then walked away. He was not interested in the injured Aoi. He didn't even care. He had opted to forget the memory of her singing.

Aoi passed out. A few moments later, Lussuria felt a hand holding his ankle. He was very shocked to see the newbie on the floor. "Food…" she croaked. Lussuria felt his pockets and handed a piece of chocolate to the girl. "Thank you!" she said gratefully. Aoi, now energized by the little piece of food, stood up and bowed to Lussuria. She thanked him again then went to her room. The sun guardian shrugged and continued on the direction he was heading to.

Aoi was finally inside the safe haven her private room offered. She rummaged through her stuff and brought out a whole pack of chocolates. She gobbled them all up quickly, trying to think back to her past. Even with the help of the sweets, it still remained bleak. Giving up on her attempt, she grabbed her earphones, plugged it on her music player and soon, drifted into sleep. The afternoon turned into evening. Aoi, slept like a log, not even waking up for dinner and to the din her acquaintances made.

_Best friends, ex-friends till the end, better off as lovers but not the other way around._

_Racing through the city, windows down in the back of yellow-checkered cars._

_Whoa-oh, whoa-oh, whoa-oh_

Aoi woke up to the "whoa-ohing" of the song playing. Having forgotten what the title of the song was, she looked at the screen of her music player. "Bang the Doldrums" by Fall Out Boy. Hmm… this reminded her of her ex-friends. Wait... hold up a sec, she remembered something again in the middle of the night. She had friends before! Where were they now? Did they die? Aoi thought harder, but nothing else came to her. She slumped back on her comfy pillows. What time was it? 3 AM. _Hardly anyone would be awake by now… _Aoi changed into her usual clothes, and sneaked to the refrigerator located in the living area. She was surprised that the lights were still open. Waiting for her in the brightness was Belphegor.

"Ushishishi, you and I still have unfinished business," he said, "Let's continue, shall we?"

"By all means," Aoi replied. She dove right as Belphegor slashed her from the left. He attacked; the combat's flow was the same as the first battle. Aoi was trapped again. Bel opened his box weapon and Mink appeared. It injected the storm dying will flame onto the strings, effectively caging Aoi between them.

"So… what are you going to do now?" Bel taunted. It was just as he calculated; he had predicted that Aoi wasn't as clever as he which he used to his advantage.

"This," Aoi replied. Bel felt the atmosphere around him shift. He took a step back. Aoi lighted her ring and opened her box weapon, out came an otter. The prince was astonished. His box animal's species was sort of closely related to hers. He felt insulted by it.

"So, what are you planning to do with that otter?" Bel asked again. Aoi didn't even bother to reply.

"Luca," she named the animal, "see those strings?" it nodded, "Can you cut them for me?" in one quick swipe of its paws, Luca severed the storm-coated restraints. The cloud otter then settled itself on Aoi's shoulder. "Thank you… saa… let's get wild," she muttered.

Aoi charged Bel, she attacked with a dagger she brought specially for the occasion. Slash, swoosh, and clang: Dagger met knife. Bel was taken by surprise, he madly tried to defend himself, but it was fruitless. Aoi scored by hacking a gash on Bel's right forearm. Once the maddened storm guardian saw his 'royal' blood, his real talents showed up. Laughing maniacally, he recklessly attacked. All logic fled from his mind as he let his battle instincts take control. He was rewarded by a cut he had cleaved across Aoi's chest. Wheezing heavily, Aoi found out that she was in the middle of struggling for her life; she was not just proving her value to the deadliest faction of the Vongola. If Bel managed to win, he would take her life. Powered by this wave of realization, she entered the same state as her enemy. Blinded by her lust for victory, Aoi let her body do the thinking. She plunged her dagger to Bel as if her chest wasn't sticky with blood. She parried off a jab aimed for her stomach. They locked eyes, glowering at each other. While staring at her, Bel perceived that there was something abnormal with Aoi's eye color. It wasn't the same shade of violet! He peered closer to her despite of the amount of hair blocking his view. He saw something that looked suspiciously like a kanji character on her left pupil. On her right, he glimpsed a bluish glint. _Hmm… intriguing. This is too fascinating… it would be a waste to kill her before I found out what the writing on her violet orb meant._

"You pass my test," Bel announced, tucking away his knife and permitting Mink to return to his box.

"Eeh?" Aoi exclaimed. She strapped her dagger to her thigh and let Luca go back to her box. Aoi hadn't discerned the fact that she was hurt. Staggering badly, she used the wall as support. Bel had vanished; presumably, he was on his way to research more about Aoi's background to try and understand the meaning of the symbol in her eye. Aoi turned and headed towards the hallway. She barely made it to Lussuria's room.

"Ara, ara, it's only six in the morning," Lussuria torpidly said while opening the door.

Clutching her chest, attempting to stop the blood drip onto the carpet, Aoi uttered a word, "Help," afterwards, she collapsed.

"Oh my," despite the time, Lussuria brought out his box weapon and opened it. The sun peacock spread its splendid plumage in front of Aoi. In a few seconds, her wounds and bruises healed.

"Arigatou!" Aoi stood up and bowed, fully restored to health. She turned to leave when Lussuria grabbed her arm. Aoi whirled around and faced him.

"Who's responsible for all those injuries?" he asked, concern showing in his voice.

"It doesn't matter," Aoi gave her shoulders a shrug then smiled. "Thanks again." She stretched and headed back to her room to catch a few winks.

"What made Belphegor stop attacking me so abruptly? It seemed so… doubtful," Aoi thought, "Oh well; at least I survived in one piece… I guess that's all that matters." Her eyelids snapped shut and she slept the morning and afternoon away, her head buried in her pillow.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Fran was glad that his annoying sempai left because of a mission that Xanxus gave him. He would be gone for at most a week. He would have all his thoughts to himself because no one bothered to irritate him anymore… well, for a short period of time anyway. But there was still one thing that Bel managed to do before leaving. It was now the mist user's turn to put Aoi in a trial. He sighed. Why would he even do that? The task was just a waste of time, it's not like he would gain benefit from it. He thought more about it. Why not make the test simple? All the complicated ones that his sempai-tachi thought of failed. Besides, it would be such a drag to squander effort on it anyway. He sneaked to the unsuspecting girl's room. Fran's eyes swept around the area and they fell on Aoi's guitar. He used his illusions to quadruple the amount of the said instrument. He left a note he wrote saying:

**Find your guitar and you'll past my test. If you do, show it to me, I'll be inside my room.**

**-Fran**

He left and closed the door. Fran walked to his room and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Aoi woke up. Her eyes squinted in the brightness, for some reason, when she tried to rub them, it hurt. She gave up on the act and reached for her electric guitar. Confused, she saw there was four times the amount of them. She picked up the scrap of paper on the floor and read the instructions Fran left behind. She almost laughed aloud. She could pick her real guitar among all the copies. It was no big deal. The real problem was to find Fran's room around the huge Varia base. Aoi run her hand through all of them. Her fingers felt a tingle on the last one. She grabbed it and played a few chords. Yep, this was her guitar. In an instant, the duplicates faded away into thin air. Now the gruesome task of locating the illusionist's room was on hand. Aoi had no choice but to start finding it. She wandered around all the hallways. Then, her ears picked up music coming from afar. It was the sound of an electric guitar crying behind the wall across her. Hell, the one playing was awesome! She couldn't stop herself from sitting down and playing the instrument she was holding. Yep, that was her weakness. Aoi had a weakness for electric guitars, no matter how queer it is.

Fran heard another electric guitar playing in the hallway, its tones identical to the one he was listening to. He opened the door and discovered Aoi contentedly plucking, her fingers becoming a blur on the fret board. He used the remote he carried to stop the music blaring from his speakers. Aoi's head snapped back up, irritation written on her face.

"Aww. Why did you stop it? It sounded real cool too," she said, her fingers doing a quick dance on the frets of her beloved guitar as she pouted. She seemed unconscious about it. Suddenly it dawned to her that she was talking to Fran. "Oh yeah, I got my guitar," she said lamely, even though he could plainly see the thing on her arms.

"Yeah, bye," Fran replied, reentering his room, but the doors didn't slam shut. He turned and saw Aoi blocking it with her body.

"Hey, can I please listen to the song you were playing a moment ago?" she pleaded.

Fran stared at her blankly like 'why won't you go away?' he nodded and pointed at the things Aoi were supposed to press in order to hear the sound again. Fortunately, she brought her amp and headphones along so everything was fine. She sat on the floor, clamped her headphones on (they were plugged on the music player), cranked the volume up, hit the play button, and waited for the song to start playing. Fran sat on his bed, wore his earmuffs to block all sound coming from Aoi's direction. He didn't want to hear her playing at all. He grabbed whatever book was in front of him and started reading.

_WAKE UP, YOU READY? sou yume wo RIARU ni shiteku JOURNEY._

_DON'T STOP michi naru michi ne OODAA MEIDO no GR8 STORY!_

Aoi began plucking like crazy. She didn't want to sing for it would attract even more attention to herself. If someone she knew heard her sing, she might just die of embarrassment. But that didn't stop her from mouthing the words along.

_Onaji toko guruguru rotou ni mayou BABY_

_Kakkotsuke kata mo shiranai kuse ni iki gacchattari shite_

_Hadaka ni narya kowai mon nashi shinu ki de GO MY WAY_

_Kagirareta toki no naka de saa boku wa nani ga dekiru darou?_

_Mou chotto mou chotto nemuttetai kedo mou jikan sa_

_Kakagero chikatta tatta hitotsu dake no mono wo_

She couldn't help shake her head to the beat of the music as the chorus came along.

_Jibun rashiku jibun uragire souzou koeteku STOORII_

_Shibarareta mama de tamaru ka saa buchi yabure genjou no toushindai_

Fran's eyes slipped away from the book he was attempting to read. He was ogling Aoi from her position. She seemed really engrossed in the thing she was doing. _What was so interesting about playing the guitar anyway? Where's the thrill in producing random noise from metal strings?_

_Tarinee noumiso ni tanonna ashibumi no hima wa nai_

_Ushinau tabi tsuyoku nareru sa_

_Hito shizuku no namida to tomo ni_

Aoi started humming. Her body was feeling the music. Rather, she was music herself. With this, she could forget all her problems and everything she was confused and angry about.

_Mata ashita mata ashita tte nigetai kedo tada shinjiro_

_Bokura ga mamoru beki tatta hitotsu dake no mono wo_

She tentatively began singing; her voice was very soft, only a person who sat right next to her would hear it. But that wasn't the case, Fran was a few meters away from her and in addition to that, he was wearing earmuffs, a gesture that screamed that he didn't want to listen to her playing. She sang the chorus in her normal voice level.

_Jibun rashiku jibun uragire souzou koeteku SUTOORII_

_Shibarareta mama de tamaru ka saa buchi yabure genjou no toushindai_

Fran couldn't resist the urge to take of his noise separators; he did so just in time to hear Aoi sing the last verse. She was concentrating too much on the chords to notice him move and if she did, she refused to stop playing.

_THE DAYBREAK HAS COME. mata atarashii kyou no makuake_

_THE RAIN WILL STOP SOON. yamanai ame wa nai kara susumo OODAA MEIDO no GR8 STORY!_

He raised his eyebrows once Aoi was finished. Ookay… so he had just heard the last two lines of "Gr8 Story" by SuG in Aoi's rendition. She took of her headphones, she beamed at Fran. She thanked him for being so kind in sharing his music. Before he could reply, she ran towards her room whisking away her amp, guitar and headset.

"Well, that was annoying," Fran thought, "it seems like Bel-sempai already has his replacement." It was the first time anyone had ever apologized and thanked Fran. He was seriously overjoyed at this motion but his face remained expressionless. It would take an expert to decipher his emotions. He did show them once in a while, when he wasn't aware but that only happened during extreme situations. Like whenever he was really really angry or feeling absolutely depressed which almost never occurred in his whole life.

Aoi ran; she was ashamed to be caught singing in a boy's room. And the boy was Fran nonetheless. _Ugh. I'm such an idiot. _She knew he heard her sing the last part of the song, and she had this strong gut feeling that he was there when she sang "Akatsuki no Kuruma". _Ugh… he heard her sing twice, TWICE! How annoying_. She made up her mind not to sing inside the headquarters anymore. Unexpectedly, a thought crossed her mind. "Hey! Tomorrow's my birthday!" she shouted, immediately covering her mouth. Fran was a few hallways away, Belphegor was gone, Lussuria, Squalo and Levi were fighting and arguing in the lounging area which was a few rooms away and Xanxus was probably talking on the phone and calling people trash, no one would hear her above the din they made. She inhaled. That was good; she didn't want them to know any personal info about her at all.

Unfortunately, she was wrong. There was a certain green-haired guy who heard her holler. He was just on his way to the kitchen when he did. _Eh… her birthday. I wonder what she's planning to do… _Fran thought while keeping his apathetic look. He walked over to the fridge and grabbed the special sweet Belphegor hid, threatening anyone who would dare and steal it; and a spoon. He couldn't wait to see his sempai's reaction upon knowing that somebody ate the Mocha-flavored ice-cream with chocolate sprinkles and marshmallow bits on top. He probably would blame Aoi.

_Tomorrow's going to be fun…_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Morning came. Aoi woke up, she was feeling really good; she could take on anything, fight anything, and laugh at everything just because today was her birthday. She smiled; wondering how she celebrated her birthdays in the past. She was certain that there was a guy who had the same hair color as hers greeting her a happy birthday. She sighed, what was her relation to that dude anyway? Oh, to hell with that… for now, she would forget to worry about her past, forget that she was mafia and enjoy the day of her birth like any normal girl would. Aoi skipped out of her bed, she wore her uniform and looked for Squalo. She found him in the middle of announcing that today was a holiday for the Varia, they could go wherever they wanted and the boss won't disturb them with any missions. She noted that Belphegor hadn't returned yet. Yes! Everything was going the way she wanted it to be. Aoi ran back to her room and wore her normal clothes. A white shirt, khaki-colored short pants, a violet vest and a green floppy cap would do to make her blend in the normal crowd. She decided that she would let her hair down once she was out of sight of the base. She wore her rings in a chain around her neck. For safety purposes, she tucked them out of view; she also dropped her box weapon inside her pocket. She grabbed her electric guitar, amp and headset, slipped out of the back door and headed to a park that was quite far from the headquarters.

While she walked, listening to music via headphones, she bought a hotdog to bite along the way. Finally she arrived to her destination. To her surprise, she saw a few people tweaking with musical instruments. They were people from a various bands holding their debut. A few of them were starting to play. Perfect. She would perfectly blend in. She chose a spot somewhat far away from the populace; it was under a tree, cool and shady. Attention was wasn't what she wanted or needed. She just wanted to play for the fun of it. A few people roamed around her, they were curiously watching the newcomer fix up her electric guitar. She slowly and gracefully (in the eyes of the onlookers) plugged her guitar to the amp and did experimental tweaking, checking to see if the volume was to her liking or not. It. Was. Perfect. Not too loud. Not too soft. Satisfied with the sound her guitar produced, she played the first song that happened to be in her playlist. It was "Dive to the World" by Cherryblossom. The first chords she strummed sounded superb; it demanded attention, overpowering the other people playing. All heads turned to the direction of the mute guitar player. Everything and everyone went still, the people dropped everything they were doing (literally and figuratively); the only sound heard in the park was the guitar Aoi was playing. Unaware of the commotion she had set, Aoi continued playing since all she could hear was the music and all she could see was the guitar. Suddenly, her mouth opened and sang the last verse.

_Daiji na yume no hanashi wo shiyou furueru kokoro wo dakishimete_

_Zutto nozondeita ano koro kantan ni tsukamenai kedo_

_Junbi wa ii kai? iku yo eien ni kizamu_

_Arata na story kakedashite_

_Daibu(dive) suru show me fly the sky_

Everyone was amazed at her voice which complemented her guitar capabilities. Aoi played the ending; she glanced up for the first time during the whole song and noticed the group of citizens watching her. She had attracted every passerby and stole the audience of the debuting bands by accident.

"More! More! More! More!" they shouted, they wanted her to play and sing more songs. Aoi pulled off her headset.

"Okay, okay, any song requests?" she asked.

"K-ON! K-ON!" a unison of voices screamed.

"As you wish," Aoi replied. More cheers and applause issued from adults and kids alike, "Ja, the next song is Fuwa Fuwa Time!" She played the guitar intro and sang. The people clapped to the beat reenacting the scene in K-ON.

_Kimi wa miteru to itsumo heart Doki Doki_

_Yurero omoiro marshmallow mitai ni Fuwa Fuwa!_

_Itsumo ganbaru, kimi no yoko garo_

_Zutto mitetomo kizuka nai yo ne_

_Yume wo naka nara, futari no kyo ni_

_Jiji merareru no mina!_

More whoops came from the people, anticipating the chorus.

_Aa kami-sama onegai futari dakedo?_

_Dream time kudasai?_

_Ochi ni hini yorusachaun daite_

_Konyamo oyasumi_

_Fuwa fuwa time!_

_Fuwa fuwa time!_

_Fuwa fuwa time!_

She smiled and ended the song. It was fun to play in front of people who appreciated her music. Unexpectedly, she heard a piano playing the intro. It was a girl from a band, and then the beat of the dreams joined in. A guy (who looked somewhat cute) was playing. Another girl who had long black hair started playing her bass like Mio Akiyama. A guy with wearing a loose shirt played the electric guitar he owned eight counts after the Mio-look-alike. Aoi grinned at this; she joined in with the instrument rally. She then screamed, "One more time!"

_Aa kami-sama onegai futari dakedo?_

_Dream time kudasai?_

_Ochi ni hini yorusachaun daite_

_Konyamo oyasumi_

_Fuwa fuwa time!_

_Fuwa fuwa time!_

_Fuwa fuwa time!_

Their audience roared in appreciation, "More! More! More!" they chanted. Aoi smiled again. She played the intro to Sorairo Days, and the crowd went wild. The drum, guitar, and bass players didn't hesitate to show off their skill in smooth playing.

_Kimi wa kikoeru boku no kono koega_

_Yamini munashiku suiko mareta_

_Moshimo sekai ga imi wo mizuno nara_

_Kona kimochi mo mudare wa nai_

She continued playing, singing in her clear and pleasant voice, while the people cheered. This was going to be one hell of an unplanned concert.

Meanwhile, inside the Varia Headquarters, Lussuria was looking for Aoi like an obsessed human being. He was running around like an idiot, popping his head in each room and randomly asking anyone who happened to walk past him.

"Ah, Aoi-sama? I think I saw her leave through the back door. It was as if she didn't want anyone to follow her," a maid answered.

"Oh my… Did she tell you where she was going?"

"No Lussuria-sama, but she was carrying something that looked like a guitar, if that information could be of help."

"Oh dear," Lussuria strode away. He gathered everyone for a meeting.

"VOOOII! What the fuck is your problem? This is the only we could get some rest and to not hear any missions from that damn boss and you disturb our peace?" Squalo shouted in extreme anger. Levi looked equally irritated and Fran just stood there with a blank look on his face.

"Aoi's missing!" Lussuria presented his problem, "Can you help me find her?" Lussuria asked.

"That idiot? Well, she probably left to avoid seeing our faces," Squalo dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand. This was wrong, no Varia member asked for help from anybody. Something seemed to be bothering Lussuria immensely.

"Demo, I have something really important to tell her," Lussuria stressed, acting out each word.

"Then why don't you send your squad to search for her? If you're not satisfied with that, then why don't you go search for her yourself?" Fran suggested. The solution was simple, was Lussuria that airheaded?

"But, I'll reward you if you help me," Lussuria said, pouting, "You don't want a payment?" Everyone else was now listening.

"VOOOIII! Why didn't you say so? Let's go!" Squalo voiced out the thoughts of his companions. He quickly headed out the door.

"Baka-senpai, do you want to attract all the attention?" Fran teased, "It would be better if we wore normal clothes, not these itchy uniforms."

"Hah?" Squalo said, rubbing his chin, thinking, "Fine." In three minutes, Fran and the others were clad in jeans and shirts. Since Belphegor wasn't around, Fran wasn't compelled to wear his hat. He took it off and left it inside his bedroom. They left to find the only girl who was accepted into their team: Aoi.

They searched in the malls, the restaurants, dark alleys, inside the trashcans and in random stores but they still couldn't find a sign of the Cloud guardian of the Varia. They saw people flocking together, running excitedly towards the park as if they were late for something. They heard them whispering to each other that a guitar prodigy was gracing them with her presence. Fascinated, Lussuria, Levi, and Squalo who never heard of Aoi play the guitar, followed. They made it just in time to hear the musical genius announce, "Lost My Music!" The audience went wild and screamed, pounding their fists in the air to the beat of the fast-paced music. Around the Varia officers in disguise, the crowd watched with eyes full of awe at the girl's fast plucking. Even they (the Varia team) were captivated. The girl sang with a pleasing voice, once Fran heard her, he immediately distinguished her to be Aoi. All four of them stayed to listen.

_I still, I still I love you_

_I'm waiting, waiting forever_

_I still, I still I love you, tomara no iyo ne_

_Hey!_

Aoi scanned the number of people she was able to attract due to her playing. Her eyes fell on a certain green-haired guy accompanied by a man with spiky hair, a dude with long hair and a chap with shades. _Oh shit…. why are Fran, Lussuria, Squalo and Levi here? _She panicked, almost missing a chord. _Oh well, who cares? They won't be able to recognize me anyway…_ she forgot all about these and focused on playing.

"Ne, Squalo, the lead guitarist and vocalist looks like Aoi," Lussuria said, "Do you think it's her?"

"Not in a million years, Aoi doesn't sing and she doesn't even look like a girl."

"But the maid said that she left with a guitar. It might be her, what do you think Levi?" Lussuria looked at the Lightning Varia Guardian for an answer.

"No, it's not her," he replied with conviction.

"Chigau, it's Aoi," Fran said. Many things were running inside his mind. If he told his gay sempai that it was Aoi, then he would be given a reward, probably money. If he didn't, then Aoi would owe him a favor. He picked option # 1. He would gain more benefit from that.

"What? Okay then. Let's wait for the girl to take off her cap so we can see the truth of her identity," Lussuria decided.

"Why won't they leave?" Aoi thought, she stared at Fran and sang,

_I still, I still I love you_

_I'm waiting, waiting forever_

_I still, I still I love you_

_Mada ai no yo ne, Ne!_

_Wait… why did I do that? _

Fran blinked. Did Aoi just sing those lines to him? He blinked again, he was probably hallucinating; she had absolutely no reason to do so.

"Whooo! More! More! More!" the crowd demanded.

"Eh? More? You still want more? Ja, what do you want me to sing next?" Aoi asked?

"God Knows! God Knows!" they replied.

"Hai, hai! Coming right up!"

"Bingo, it really is her," Lussuria thought.

"It's her, that brat has the same speaking voice," Squalo thought.

"Fran's right, it's her," Levi thought.

"Eh… I wonder if 'God Knows' is worth listening to, I've never heard it before…" Fran thought.

Their train of thoughts was interrupted by the guitar crying. People clapped and cheered in eagerness. Heck, the girl was really an expert. The spectators never knew that Aoi was playing by ear. It was the first time she heard any of the songs they requested. Yes, she truly was a genius. She sang the whole song and played all the epic guitar solos. It was a relief that the guys who formed a makeshift band could really back her up. She was grateful. This might be the best birthday yet! Once Aoi finished the song with fast plucking, the crowd was silent. She was too… awesome. Singing in perfect tune and playing in perfect precision? She was a goddess.

"Can I play 'I Can Make It' next?" the one with a red electric guitar asked for approval.

"Hm? Sure! But this time, it's your turn to sing," Aoi replied.

"My pleasure!" he said, and so they switched positions and played.

"Eh… he has a nice voice," Aoi reflected. It sounded like her brother's voice. Wait… hold up a sec, she had a brother? Was that the guy with the same hair color as hers? Yep, she was sure it was him. Her eyes glazed over as she was hit by this fact.

"Excuse me? Excuse me?" the bass player said, snapping her fingers in front of Aoi's face.

"Hmm? What?" Aoi said, snapping back to reality, they had just finished playing the guitar player's song demand.

"I was saying 'can we play the song: Aoi Yume?'" the long-haired lass asked.

"Huh? Sure!"

"But all of us need to sing."

"No problem."

They played the intro and reached the chorus.

_Aoi, Aoi bokura no yume_

_Furikaetteru hima wa nai_

_Hashire, Hashire boku no kotoba_

_Yume wo nosete hashire_

_Takara mono wa hoka ni wa naiyo_

_Mada owacchanai kara_

_Ase to namida wa uragiranai_

_Ah~ Mietekita_

The crowd applauded. It was getting late already. As much as they wanted to stay, they began leaving the park. As soon as the song ended, all who remained was the Varia officers excluding Bel and Xanxus.

"Arigatou gozaimasu!" Aoi shouted to the retreating audience. "Arigatou!" she thanked the people who played several songs with her.

"Iya, iya," the guitarist denied, "We're supposed to be saying the same thing to you for letting us play, the pleasure was all ours… hey, do you want to join our band?"

Aoi looked startled, "I'd love to but I already have a job that takes up most of my time, sorry. See you guys next time!" Aoi said, grabbing her amp and walked away, holding her guitar. Lussuria intercepted her.

"Aoi-chan, why didn't you tell us you played the guitar?" Lussuria pouted.

"How unsightly and un-Varia-like," Squalo grumbled.

Aoi blinked, "Excuse me? Who are you?" she played dumb, hoping Fran won't reveal the truth as she lied, "I believe you're mistaking me for someone called Aoi."

"VOOOIII! What do you take us for? Fools? Do you think you can deceive us by your playacting?" Squalo drew his sword. Aoi really liked to answer him back with a 'yes' but she pretended to be scared.

"Kyaa! Help me!" she screamed like any normal frightened girl would. The drummer of the makeshift band noticed and sauntered over, eyeing the dangerous weapon Squalo had in his hands.

"Excuse me," he intervened in a firm tone, "but it's bad to accuse a girl and point things like swords at her. Please put it away, she's nothing but a really good guitarist and a kawaii singer."

Fran almost snickered at his last two words but he bit his tongue when he noticed Aoi turn slightly pink. Aoi wasn't sure if Squalo would follow the drummer dude, but to her surprise, he did.

"Trash, let's go Lussuria, she's definitely not Aoi," Squalo said, and therefore, they left.

"Daijoubu?" the drummer asked, "Why were they threatening you? They looked really scary."

"I'm fine. I have no idea why they did that. They mistook me for someone called Aoi," Aoi said, "I'm off then!"

"Ah! Wait! My name's Kyou Asagana, what's yours?"

"Uhm…" Aoi hysterically thought of an alias, "Tsukiko, Tsukiko Mikoto."

"Thanks for playing with me Tsukiko-chan!" Kyou smiled. "Be careful on your way home!"

"Oh, you too!" Aoi a.k.a Tsukiko left. She sighed. What an unexpected turn of events. She took of her cap and purple vest then tied her hair up in a messy ponytail. She strolled over to a sushi place. "Oji-chan! Tuna please!" She ordered.

"Hai! Dozo," the man in charge of preparing salmon placed a plate of tuna sushi on top of the table in front of her.

"Ittedakimasu!" but before Aoi could take a bite, the bell in the doorway chimed and guess who entered?

"Aoi-chan! We were looking all over for you!"

"Ah, Lussuria-kun," Aoi greeted him, halfway through eating her sushi.

"Not –kun! It's Oni-chan," Lussuria replied, annoyed.

Aoi, grossed out by Lussuria, no oni-chan's proclamation, corrected herself, "Uh… oni-chan, I was just getting my guitar," and here, Aoi patted the instrument, "fixed in a music store somewhere around the area, you didn't think of searching for me there?" she asked reproachfully, quickly thinking for a cover-up. Fran grabbed one of the tuna sushi on her plate and ate it. Aoi complained and said that Fran would have to order her another batch of sushi.

"Eh… we thought you were the girl playing guitar in the park," Lussuria said.

"That's stupid," she replied, between bites, "I've only began playing that instrument a few weeks ago. I couldn't get to be so good in such a short amount of time." There was little truth in her words. She only did start the hobby when she was in the Ninth's mansion.

"Ah, senpai, where's the reward?" Fran asked.

"Hmm? That? I'll treat you sushi," Lussuria said.

"Well, that's cheap…" Squalo and Levi both mumbled.

"It's all too bad that Bel's not here," Lussuria continued.

"Ushishishi. What was that?" Bel asked, entering the sushi store in his Varia uniform. In one smooth move, he plucked one tuna sushi on Aoi's plate.

"HEY!" she loudly protested. All the customers' eyes widened. The Varia's here! And not just one, all six of them were present! They fled, afraid of the mafia. The Varia guardians were well-known in that particular shop.

"Ah Bel-senpai, done with your mission?" Fran asked.

"Hm? Of course. I was able to finish it in one day because I'm a pri-"

"Sempai, let's eat," Fran turned to Lussuria, losing interest in his conversation with Bel.

"Hai! Hai! Mister! I'll order everything in the house!" Lussuria literally bought everything the whole restaurant sold.

"Fran," Bel said.

"What is it sempai?"

"Where's your hat?"

"Ah. I left it in my room."

"Heh," Bel said, slowly removing his knives from his pocket.

"Ah, yabai…"

Food was forgotten, although the sushi was placed on their table. It was only Aoi who was eating. The usual fight happened between sempai and kouhai. Squalo joined in with three of his "vooii's!" Levi got kicked in the face and attacked the three as well. Lussuria was insulted by Fran and the sun guardian decided to get involved in the combat. Not soon after that, the restaurant owner stared at the damage done by the Varia to his shop. It had been sliced and hacked to pieces, on top of it all, it was burning.

Aoi smiled. It wouldn't be a normal day in Varia if there were no skirmishes that took place. "Yep, I guess this is the best birthday ever," she thought as they were walking home, the sushi shop owner was too scared to ask for payment.

A flashback appeared in her head. Blood was splattered on the walls of a room. People wearing white lab coats decorated the floor. Her brother with mismatched eyes, colored red and blue was holding a small trident.

_Wait… whaat?_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Fran strolled towards the training center of the building headquarters approximately three weeks after Aoi's birthday. He was thirty minutes late for his appointment with his master. Despite this, he wasn't in a hurry. After all, who cares if one keeps another waiting? Nu uh, not him, never in his life had he worried about such a simple matter. Fran opened the doors and was immediately impaled by a trident on his huge, black frog cap.

"Ah, itai, shissho it hurts."

"You're late my useless apprentice," Mukuro said with a smile that depicted not of happiness but of suppressed exasperation.

"Shissho, let's get started shall we?" Fran asked, not minding Mukuro's displeasure. Columns of fire erupted from the floor. Fran dispelled the illusion, countering it by making the fire freeze and turning it into columns of ice. "You have to do better than that, shissho."

"Kufufufu," Mukuro disappeared or rather, vanished from Fran's sight, "Saa… find me!"

The green-haired illusionist was struck by Aoi's resemblance to Mukuro Rokudo. They played the same game!

"Concentrate!" Mukuro snapped.

"Ah," he absentmindedly dodged a swipe from Mukuro's weapon. Just as they were about to light their hell rings and to fight seriously, the door of the training arena blasted open. Aoi entered, running away from Levi.

"AHHH!" she hollered, "For God's sake! I didn't rip your most precious and important Xanxus plushie into shreds! It was Bel-senpai! Who else could have used knives huh? Use your head for a moment and think you big goon!" she rolled to the right, avoiding a blast of lightning that seared the floor.

"Oh honestly, I told your boss not to let anyone in this place," Mukuro muttered.

Fran stared at Mukuro; he was amused. "Guess this puts of our training," he murmured to himself.

Aoi stumbled and fell, "Ow! Damn it!" she cursed, her face hitting the solid concrete flooring.

"Serves you right," Levi said, adding insult to her injury. He turned and left saying something about boiling that Belphegor into crisp and blasting him with lightning.

"Itaaiii! I'm hurt! I am very much hurt!" Aoi complained as she rubbed her eyes. Fran stared, _what was wrong with her?_ He noticed a pair of cracked violet contacts on the ground. Aoi stopped scratching her injured eyes and opened them. She heard somebody gasp. Well maybe that was only her imagination. "What?" she asked apparently confused.

"Red and blue…" Fran stammered, which was an action new to him.

"Eh?" suddenly, Aoi noticed there was someone else besides Fran in the room. It was the guy with mismatched eyes and blue pineapple-style hair of her memories. Red eyed met red, blue eyes met blue, a switch clicked on the siblings minds, and recognition dawned on them both. "ONI-TAN!" Aoi jumped up and dashed over to where Mukuro was standing. "You're my oni-tan right?"

A hundred thoughts flew past Mukuro's mind. For the first time ever, he was tongue-tied and at a loss for words.

"Hey, Kuro-nichan, you're my brother right?" Aoi asked, less confident that before while tugging the hem of his shirt.

"Ah… yeah," Mukuro smiled, he was surprised when Aoi hugged him for a brief time.

"You have no idea on how long I tried to remember your name," Aoi confided.

"Ah, shissho, Aoi's your younger sister?" Fran asked, drinking in the juicy information without any sort of reaction.

"Stay out of this," Mukuro told Fran. Aoi looked at both guys with a gaping mouth.

"Whaaat? Fran you knew Kuro-nichan? Rephrase… oni-tan, you knew Fran?" she asked.

"Hai, I know Kuro-nichan," Fran teased Mukuro. He earned a stab from the Vongola Mist Guardian's trident. She gasped, wondering why a fountain of blood hadn't appeared.

"Oni-tan, why are you here?"

"I have to ask you the same question, Aoi."

"Ah, about that, I'm the Cloud Guardian of the Varia," Aoi said.

"Tch, you're part of the mafia then."

"Shissho, you're also part of the Mafia too. After all, you are the Mist Guardian of the Vongola Tenth generation Boss," Fran answered for his master. He earned a stab from Mukuro's trident for the third time. "Itai."

"I didn't order you to tell her, you useless apprentice," Mukuro justified.

"Oh yeah, oni-tan, do you remember our past?" she asked.

"What?"

"I don't remember any of what happened, so… what exactly happened?" she persisted.

Mukuro raised his eyebrows, "That you have to find out for yourself."

"Ehh… you're not exactly a helpful brother are you, oni-tan?" she asked, "By the way, did you both realize that neither of you are really here?" without her contacts, nothing could interfere with Aoi's sight. She could see things as a mist guardian could.

"Hm?" Mukuro asked, cocking his head to the right.

"Ah," Fran said, avoiding Aoi's observation, "Shisso's stuck in the most impregnable cell in the Vindice Prison," he continued, determined to irritate Mukuro. His master just ignored him.

"Eeh… what did you get in there for?" Aoi asked.

"It's your fault that I got caught," Mukuro bitterly replied, Aoi was stunned. _How was it her fault? She didn't even remember! How did her oni-tan find the guts to blame her? Was it even true?_

"Really? I don't remember…" as she tried to recall. Her cloud and hell ring suddenly lit up because of the strength and determination of her resolution. Her ability with the mist awakened once more. She had just opened one of the gateways of hell. Columns of fire erupted from the floor with such a ferocious glow so abruptly that Mukuro and Fran didn't have time to not get swept up by it.

"Shisso, she's better than you ever were," Fran commented. The flames grew bigger.

Aoi was staring at her handiwork. Whoa… she was capable of that. "Sweet, but a little more…" she muttered, suddenly snakes and all sorts of icky animals appeared, multiplying number in each second. "Awesome…"

"Aoi, stop it, you might lose control of you illusions!" Mukuro warned, he and Fran were being squeezed by a two huge boa constrictors Aoi had accidently summoned. Slowly but surely, the fires grew taller and hotter. "Aoi! Stop it!" he commanded.

"Huh? Why should I stop? It's like I'm making my own version of hell," she replied stubbornly, pleased with her achievement. She caught a glimpse of her brother and Fran struggling to breathe. She tried to stop her illusions but it wouldn't. She concentrated harder, the flames subsided as fast as it had increased and the animals disappeared. "Sorry," she apologized sheepishly while looking at the mist guardians catching their breaths. "Ah! Yabai! I have an important errand to accomplish!" Aoi clamped a hand on her forehead due to her forgetfulness; said her farewells to her brother and Fran then left.

"Was she always like that?" Fran asked Mukuro as Aoi left running.

"You have no idea," he replied back, "It seems like a long time has passed since I've seen her."

"Eh, you're probably right Kuro-nichan."

"Be prepared my young apprentice, you've just signed up for an extremely dangerous life."

"Betsuni, I don't mind," Fran said evenly. Mukuro restarted the training by summoning snakes and turning the floor into quicksand.

"I'll show you that I'm better than my little sister, saa… what are you going to do?" Mukuro taunted. The boy just stared. The Vongola guardian scowled, he suddenly saw that the Fran in front of him was just a copy, an illusion that had been with him ever since the start of training. Aoi was right. None of them were really physically present. _Mataku… that kid skipped lessons again_. His mind slipped its consciousness back to his numb body in his prison cell, leaving the arena empty.

Fran chomped at the chips he had stored under his bed. Hah, he escaped once more from Mukuro's cutches. He wondered about Aoi's identity, _was she really Mukuro's sister?_

"VOOOIII!" Fran, Aoi, Levi, Bel, and Lussuria weren't expecting the loudest officer to bellow at the top of his lungs during the ungodly hours of the night. "The boss calls a meeting! Get your lazy fat asses in his room!" Loyal to Xanxus, all of the Varia guardians dropped what they were doing and made haste to the rendezvous point.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Belphegor sprawled on top of the coach, Levi and Lussuria were sharing a seat, Squalo was pacing around the room, Aoi was sitting in a corner, Fran was leaning against a wall and Xanxus lounged on his comfy red throne. There was a tense aura in the room.

Unable to withstand it longer, Squalo shouted, "VOOII! Boss! Why are we here?" Aoi winced; she hated it when Squalo started every sentence with a "voi!", it was starting to get very… nerve-wrecking.

"Urusai, trash, I'm the one who's gonna do all the talking here," Xanxus scolded, his eyes full of hatred, "We're holding a Vongola-style Birthday Party tomorrow."

"Ushishishi, who cares whose birthday is whose," Bel said, "Hey boss, whose birthday party is it? Let's crash the merrymaking instead."

"MINE," Xanxus said, pointing his gun at Bel's direction, "Got any problem with that?"

"No, boss," Bel muttered in a small voice, he heard Fran snicker. He was soo going to rip that replacement of Mammon into shreds…

"The Ninth said to prepare whatever you're going to show for the party," Xanxus continued after ignoring Bel's apology.

"Huh? Show? Show what? For what?" Aoi asked; she'd never been in any party, much less the famous Vongola Birthday Parties.

"Arara," Lussuria sighed in disapproval, as if it was Aoi's fault for not knowing. "There's a talent show, you have to prepare for that. The birthday celebrant would rank each performer, the highest would receive a huge amount of prize money and have his/her wish granted while the loser along with his immediate family will be killed. Fun isn't it?" he ended in a positive note.

"Yeah, very," Aoi sarcastically replied. "What if we choose not to participate?" she asked. Squalo and Lussuria laughed.

"You can't NOT participate, it's something that's inescapable," Lussuria said, "Think of it as a gift to our boss."

Xanxus rolled his eyes at Lussuria's sentence. He couldn't help but think why he accepted Lussuria as part of the Varia. It seemed like he got fooled by the gay guy. "The Ninth also said that we have to wear something formal, for both men and women, no buts. Now… leave!" he barked out his command.

The guardians filed out of the room. Lussuria and Levi paired up; they were thinking about doing a comedy act. Squalo chose to perform by himself. He was going to make the most beautiful ice sculpture for the boss using his sword for his carving utensil. Bel forced Fran to work with him, probably thinking of something gory to show his leader. Aoi, had no other option but to do it alone. She sighed. What was she going to show? She looked at her electric guitar that she had hidden under her bed. There's no other choice, if she didn't play, she would die, if she played, she would die out of embarrassment. Either way, it was hell. She sniffed, all her hard work of keeping her skill a secret was all for nothing. The good-for-nothing Vongola party, plus, she had to wear a dress. God, she hated those! She had an idea, pretty stupid but an idea none the less, she called the maids and ordered them to buy here a black tuxedo, purple necktie, black pants and leather shoes her size. Now the worry of her outfit was cleared. But oh wait! What if the boss didn't like listening to music? If that was so, she would literally and surely die. In order to find out, Aoi took the great risk to sneak into Xanxus room to investigate. Three meters away, she could hear heavy metal rock in full volume playing from the speakers Xanxus stole from somebody when he was a kid. Whew. That was a really close call. All was set then.

The day of the birthday came, the Varia officers were assembling in the lounging area, all of them wearing coats and ties. They were waiting for Aoi to emerge from her room.

"Ushishishi, she's probably in the middle of wearing a huge beige dress with lots of ruffles and lace and she's probably putting on white face powder and huge amounts of lipstick," Bel laughed, while picturing Aoi in such clothes. Lussuria and Levi followed his example.

The door opened, the object of conversation came in wearing a… a… a black tuxedo that had been tailored to fit her. Squalo jawdropped. Bel, Lussuria, and Levi sweatdropped. Xanxus and Fran stared. They had not been expecting Aoi to abhor wearing a dress to the extent of wearing men's clothes… tailored men's clothes.

"VOOII!" Squalo broke the awkward silence, "What the fuck are you wearing? It's a boy's outfit! You look like a guy!"

"Eeh, what's wrong with that? It's better to look like a guy instead of wearing a dress," Aoi shuddered, "It's totally unfair if I have to wear a stupid and idiotic dress, feeling like a complete full when you guys are wearing comfortable pants and stuff…" Aoi pouted.

"Trash," Xanxus said, "You're spouting out trash… MAIDS!" he roared. The girls who took charge of the cleaning hurriedly entered the room, expecting this scene to happen. "Don't make her leave this room until she looks like a girl as ordered by the Ninth," he held up the Ninth's letter for everyone to see.

"Eeh? That's cruel!" Aoi screamed in protest, "That old geezer…" she cursed.

"We're leaving," Xanxus ordered the male Varia officers to pile up in the car.

"Wait! Damn it! What about me? You can't just leave me behind!" she asked, she got hit by a heavy object on the head and passed ot.

"You can follow us when you look respectable to the public, "Xanxus told the unconscious Cloud guardian. He glared at the maids; the girls got the point and immediately started working on Aoi.

"Ugh…" Aoi groaned, she tried to grab her aching head with her hand but she found out she couldn't. She came to her senses and saw her reflection on the mirror. The maids were making final touches to her hair. "AAAHH!" she screamed as if she was being tortured, which in a sense she was, "Get these off me! What the fuck are you doing to my hair?"

"Aoi-sama, you look fine, you're actually very pretty," a maid tried to console her mad mistress.

"Pretty? Me? Pretty my ass!" she ripped her hands off from their restraints with brute strength, "Agh! Why is it soo hard to walk in heels?" she sighed. "Take me to the car, I'm leaving." She grabbed her guitarcase and amp. The maids looked at each other. Whatever would happen if the girl arrived to the ballroom? She might go on a killing rampage! But one look at Aoi-sama, the maids was convinced that she looked calm and composed. Well, they'll leave her in their master's hands.

Xanxus was greeted with silence and fear as he stepped out of the car. It became even more silent when his subordinates revealed themselves. "Trash," Xanxus said in a harsh voice. He made his way to the huge red chair at the side of the room, and sat down. "Continue doing whatever you were doing," he ordered with a wave of his hand. Once the mafia present received his permission, the noise was restored as people initiated their various conversations once more.

"Ushishishi… I can't wait to see what abomination Aoi's wearing," Bel said, licking his lips. His fellow Varia officers nodded, except for Fran. A car was heard screeching to a halt in front of the back door entrances in order to draw less attention to its passenger. "I bet that's Aoi," Bel predicted.

Aoi entered the ballroom. Despite all her attempts, she had attracted everyone's attention_. Who was that petite girl in a light blue dress? Was she a lost princess? If so, what the hell was she doing in a mafia party?_ The males blushed and some of the women frowned. _Who was this blue-haired girl? _

The girl wore a slight scowl on her face as she walked over to where the Varia was staying, "Mataku… It's your entire fault that people are staring at me," she scolded, "Now look at what you've done, I was trying to avoid all this commotion" she blamed. She then strode away to find drinks. She was immediately surrounded by her admirers, asking her to a dance or about her personal information. Aoi merely smiled and politely excused herself.

"Ne, ne, I heard that the Varia had a girl in their team for the first time in centuries," Aoi heard a wife of a mafia member mutter.

"I heard that she looks like a monster, fat and lumpy," her friend gossiped.

"Where the hell did they hear that rumor?" Aoi thought to herself, she nearly laughed out loud.

"There's no chance that she's the pretty girl over there," the friend pointed to Aoi, "That girl's probably one of Xanxus's fiancé candidates… I heard that he has many of those."

Aoi almost laughed at the absurdity of the gossip when…

"VOOII! The Cloud Guardian of the Varia! Get your ass over here!" Squalo shouted. Aoi stealthily made her way towards the stage at one side of the ballroom. She caught a glance of the Ninth sitting beside Xanxus. She stood behind her boss's big chair, taking great care not to be seen.

"I would like you to all welcome the newest member of the Vongola Family. She just recently joined the Varia and became their Cloud Guardian," the Ninth introduced once he was sure Aoi was around. People nudged each other, expecting an ugly, fat, muscular girl with a permanent glare on her face. They never expected the princess (as they have called Aoi since she didn't reveal her name yet) to be the latest addition to the Varia's number.

"Uhm… thank you for having me here, I'm Aoi Tsubasa, pleased to meet you," she bowed.

"Hai! Hai!" Lussuria said, not wanting Aoi to be in the spotlight for much longer, "Let's begin the talent show! Since Aoi-chan's the newcomer, she would honor us with her skills first!"

"Eeeeh?" she protested. She looked at the mafia audience, they all wore eager and nervous looks on their faces like they wanted to find out her abilities but were too afraid to do so_. What a complicated feeling._ She sighed, looked for an electric outlet and plugged her amp to it. Her amp had her pure black electric guitar plugged on it. She wore her headset. "Hey boss, what song do you want me to play? Any song requests?"

"Tch. Stricken by Disturbed," he replied, figuring that she'd have a hard time playing that particular song.

"Coming right up!" she said brightly, pleased to be presented with a challenge. She strummed the intro; the sound of her guitar reverberating in the hearts of those present.

_That I am stricken and can't let you go  
>When the heart is cold, there's no hope, and we know<br>That I am crippled by all that you've done  
>Into the abyss will I run<em>

She sang the song in perfect tone, her fingers pressing the correct chords. Everyone stared at her in awe, she had godlike skills. She literally rocked the house and started with a talent show with a bang as her fingers became a blur on the guitar's fret board while she plucked the guitar solo. Squalo, Lussuria and Levi couldn't believe what they were seeing, she was the girl in the park. They all had to admit that they all were impressed.

"You want more?" she asked. There were murmurs of 'More! More!' around the room. She played plucked the fast intro of "Through the Fire and Flames" by DragonForce. Some of the people were singing along. Some were banging their heads.

_So far away we wait for the day  
>For the lives all so wasted and gone<br>We feel the pain of a lifetime lost in a thousand days  
>Through the fire and the flames we carry on<em>

"Her voice sounds nice," Xanxus thought and listened to Aoi as she played the song. "She picked the right tracks too…" he added to his thoughts. The boss was in a good mood… for once. His voice trailed away as Aoi pulled off the long and complicated guitar solo. It was her first time doing so, and she had a great time. She was smiling while playing with her eyes closed. People were full of awe, admiration and fear for the guitar princess. Even if she lacked the drums and base, the song sounded perfect with just her wonderful 'guitar-ing'. The whole song lasted for seven minutes and twenty-four seconds. After she was done, many whoops and cheers came from the audience. They waited Xanxus's score for Aoi.

"Ninety-eight points," Xanxus scored. Everyone gasped. No one got a score higher than ninety-five in a Vongola Party before. But, they all agreed that Aoi deserved it. The rest of the party went past like a blur. Aoi could only remember pictures afterwards. Mafia playing dangerous games. She, being awarded with a million bucks by winning the talent show. Seeing Fran teasing Bel and couples dancing on the dance floor. Then, a whole enemy mafia family came, trashing Xanxus's birthday party.

Thus it resulted to the Vongola Birthday party ending in disaster. All Xanxus's enemies as well as enemies of the Vongola attacked. They were headed by the boss of the Millefiore Family, Byakuran. They captured the Varia officers and all they saw who were posing a threat to their Family, right in the middle of people waltzing on the dancefloor. But, the party poopers failed to abduct two teenagers.

Fran asked Aoi for a dance. Aoi, who was forced to act like a girl (for once) couldn't refuse. They moved along with the slow music, Aoi was slightly blushing but Fran still wore his pokerface.

"Ne, Fran, do you even have emotions?" Aoi asked, attempting for a conversation.

"Huh? Who knows," Fran said; his eyes devoid of any sign of happiness.

"Eh? You don't even smile or anything?" Aoi asked another question while they waltzed.

"I do smile… sometimes… rarely," Fran replied.

"That's too bad," Aoi mumbled. Without noticing it, the pair had danced into an empty area; far away from the where the party was being held. Both of them were lost in their thoughts. The empty area suddenly turned pitch black. Aoi gripped Fran's hands tighter.

"Oww…" he moaned.

"Eh? Where are we?" Aoi asked, taking a panicked look around the darkened place.

"Someplace far from the ballroom… probably," Fran replied, unsure of what to do in a dark room alone with a girl, but not just any girl, the cloud varia guardian was with him.

"Thanks for stating the obvious. Agh! I can't see a thing!" Aoi growled in frustration. "I hate the dark, I hate the dark…" she whispered again and again, still noting letting of Fran's hands. She accidently had trodden on Fran's foot in her state.

"Ow," Fran said. Aoi was about to apologize when they heard sounds of battle somewhere far from them. They unmistakably heard Xanxus shouting orders, Squalo's "vooii's" and the chuckle of Belphegor. The din faded away and they heard footsteps approaching.

"I'm sure I heard someone talking in this place," a Millefiore soldier mumbled. In one quick movement, Fran pushed Aoi against a wall, warning her to keep quiet. He used his body to shafe her light blue dress away from the soldier's sight. He pried his hands free ad muffled Aoi's noise of protest with them. "Hmm…" the guy said as he went nearer to the Varia guardians, carrying his box animal which provided light. "Hey! You two! You're-" his voice trailed away.

Fran had a totally Shamal-like idea, he grabbed Aoi's chin with the hand that bore his rings and skillfully covered her Varia ring by holding her hand with his free one. He leaned down and kissed her, hoping that the soldier would leave them alone. Well, at least that scene always worked in movies.

Aoi's eyes widened up. What the hell was Fran doing? Why now? She felt his soft lips press down against hers. She tried to move her mouth but Fran easily stopped her attempts with his. All at once, she realized his plot to make the soldier leave. If she could've sighed, she would have, no choice, she had to go along with the illogicality and silliness of his idea. She moved her lips along with Fran's as she closed her eyes. He responded by pushing her harder against the wall. He deepened the kiss. The Millefiore dude took the hint. With one small apology, he turned away and left. But instead of separating from each other at the enemy's dismissal, they continued, too caught up by the moment.

_She's making it harder, harder to breath._

_I'm getting weaker, so pulling the strings_

_The lights are all lost, there's no one around_

_We both lost our minds, nowhere to be found_

_It's getting hot, I'm not saying this is hell_

_But I swear, this girl's a mess you could sell_

"This isn't hell," Fran and Aoi thought. Wait… they guy's gone! What are we doing? We don't have feelings for each other! With this, the two pulled apart, Aoi's cheeks were hot.

"Uhm… I guess we should check on what happened to the others," Aoi said, meeting Fran's eyes for a brief moment. They looked away from each other from their eye contact, covering their mouths.

"Uh… yeah," Fran agreed. They refused to look at each other again. Fran felt a twitch on the corner of his mouth. It was a beginning of a smile, but before it could fully develop, he resumed his blank face.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

As both Varia officers expected, there was no trace of their comrades. All the visitors that attended the celebration were dead. Blood streaked the party grounds. The mangled bodies of those who were defenseless lay on the floor in such gruesome poses. The furniture was in bits and pieces. The curtains and tablecloth were torn into pieces and the golden chandelier was broken to the point of no recognition. Fran and Aoi surveyed the damage in the area.

"Fran! Don't step on the blood," Aoi warned. He was surprised. This was the first time he heard a girl order him around. Fran took a closer look at the red liquid. It spelled out MILLEFIORE BASE.

"Ahh…" Fran looked at Aoi's direction. She looked back, smiling triumphantly.

"See? They were bagged and on their way to Millefiore base," she stated the obvious, "So Fran, are we going to save them or not?"

Fran thought. He wouldn't save them for five particular reasons.

1. Bel-senpai wouldn't be present to force him to wear a huge, ridiculous, frog-shaped hat every single day. (His head hurt from carrying all that extra weight)

2. Squalo wouldn't hurt his eardrums anymore because of all his annoyingly irritating "VOOOII's".

3. He wouldn't have to put up with Lussuria ni-chan's gayish antics. (And the way he pouted his lips at Squalo… now that was just disgusting.)

4. Not one of Levi's rants about his loyalty to the boss would reach his ears.

5. Xanxus's scarred face that always had a permanent frown no matter how happy the situation is (like during his birthday earlier) would never be within his vision.

Fran unconsciously gulped. He would die if Xanxus would point his guns loaded with his boss's flames of rage at him. Yep, the answer was clear. He had to rescue his hopeless and pitiful comrades.

"Fran?" Aoi prompted, he had been silent for a while. It bothered her to see him act like that. Was he quiet because of the thing they shared a moment ago? Or was he just thinking of the pros and cons of saving Squalo and the others?

"Yeah, we have to go and rescue them," Fran replied. He turned his back on the girl and ran outside.

"Oi! Matte! We don't even know where in the whole world is the Millefiore Base, for all I know, it might be in Japan, or Italy or Germany, the garbage can or…" Aoi trailed away. Fran was holding something that looked suspiciously like a phone but not a phone at all. What Fran held in his hands was a device that showed the path of a tracer. You know, those thingies that someone attaches to somebody in order to follow him or her. While he was kissing Aoi (for distraction, mind you), he managed to slip it into the Millefiore soldier's white boots. How thoughtful. It was beyond her imagination on how in the whole wide world was he able to do such a feat when even she failed to notice.

Anyway, as soon as Fran got hold of the soldier's bearings, both of them sped towards the enemy's base, in hopes of freeing their companions and escaping the wrath of their boss. Aoi and Fran never second guessed the thought of how foul Xanxus's mood would be, considering the fact that he was taken captive right on the date of his birthday. Their answer? Xanxus would be ultimately pissed off to the extreme x2 x2 x2.

Pit pat pit pat. The sound of the rain steadily grew louder by the minute. Aoi gazed up at the dark clouds and muttered a string of such colorful language that could have put the most prolific 'swearer' in the Mafia into shame.

She was soaked! For the love of – for all the days rain could have fallen, it had to be now. It had to be when she was unwillingly stuffed into a dress, and a short one for that matter. She was shivering in the cold. Running only made the matters worse. She abhorred the way her clothes clung to her slender frame. To put a cherry on top it all off, she was with a guy, a guy her age with green hair. She had zero knowledge on whether the illusionist was a hentai or not. If only Fran could act gentleman enough to offer his jacket to cover, well, whatever Aoi needed to cover, everything wouldn't be as horrid as it seemed. But no, Fran didn't do anything but sprint, or more accurately jump from tree to tree like what ninjas in the show 'Naruto' did.

It seemed like ages, yet the rain didn't yield, it's as if those droplets falling from the clouds were taunting Aoi. Due to the fact of the freezing atmosphere, she felt drowsy. She and Fran had no way of knowing that they'd been travelling for about two days with no rest, no five minute breaks, and no chitchats. All energy had to be reserved for running to reach their boss's destination. It appears to be impossible: running for forty-eight hours, but it's the Varia you're talking about. Still, Fran showed no signs that indicated a halt.

Aoi couldn't take it anymore; she couldn't even walk from the extreme exhaustion. She wasn't born for these kinds of things. "Hey, Fran! Mind if we take a break first?" Aoi called, gasping for oxygen, fatigue taking the best of her. One could hear the amount of pleading in her voice. Fran didn't move from his tracks. He paused for a moment. He too was tired yet pride and arrogance fueled him to go on. Of course, the sheer terror of Xanxus's fury was also one of the important factors that made him hurry up.

"Hah," he thought with a hint of boastfulness and arrogance to himself, "I just won the battle of endurance against Aoi." He spun around just in time to watch Aoi loose her balance and drop from the tree branch she was squatting on a moment earlier. Weariness and lack of sleep drove her to the state of unconsciousness. Without thinking, without a moment of hesitation, Fran landed on the ground as graceful as a cat and stretched his arms upward in order to catch the girl. He decided against his act despite the truth he was already in position. What would he gain from saving Aoi? She was one tough girl anyway and most of all it was her fault for joining Varia, that fact alone led her to a faint.

Aoi landed with a thud on the rain soaked ground. She moaned in pain and surprise. The fall was enough to jolt her into consciousness. "What the-" the words that were forming on her mouth died on her lips. She was lying on a puddle of water. (Thank God, it wasn't mud.) But when she looked at her dress, she gasped in horror. A particularly sharp branch snagged her clothes which resulted to a vertical tear that ran through her mid thigh up to her waist. A thin line of a wound was clear as the fact that the squall was still happening was present on her thigh, directly parallel to the tear in her dress. As she stared, a trickle of blood from the tiny injury sank through the soil. Worst of all, all that water made her clothing even clingier. The light blue of her dress miraculously became transparent.

Because of her gasp, Fran couldn't resist to follow his urge to look and see the state of Aoi whom he didn't catch. He gaped. He stared. Completely rendered speechless with what he saw. Unknowingly, a pink color started to creep up to his cheeks.

_*__Note to the reader:__ the author prefers not to go on the details. It's up to your perverted mind to imagine.*_

"Wh-what?" Aoi protested, going red. "I'm a girl you know," she defended herself while clasping her arms firmly over her breasts. "And girls," she continued while she stood up and walked towards Fran who was motionless, as if roots grew to his legs. Every step she took required a tremendous amount of effort. "And girls don't like to be stared at in that kind of manner," she finished.

Aoi made a motion as if to nail a punch in Fran's face. He flinched, expecting hard contact with Aoi's fist. But instead of a fist, what made contact with him was Aoi's weight. He toppled backwards in genuine surprise. He didn't fall to the ground; he regained his balance and soon realized that he was supporting Aoi. Fran gaped. He stared. What in Hades was he supposed to do? These kinds of things never happened in the movies. Suddenly, he was aware of the heat emanating from the Cloud guardian's body. She was sick! Fan touched her forehead with one of his hands to confirm his suspicion. Just as quickly, he drew it back. Her head was searing hot! There was no doubt in his mind that she was feverish. He needed to get her out of the rain. _This is such a waste of time! I still have to speed over to my useless senpai-tachi. _In pursuit of his thoughts, and time was indeed running out on him, he would just let Aoi lean against a tree and run helter skelter among the trees. Maybe when she woke up, she could follow him. Fran decided to do just that. Without a wave of pity and remorse, he half-dragged, half-carried Aoi to a tree. There, she could at least be sheltered from the raging storm and its heavy droplets. He took one last look and went on his way.

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><p>I'M SOOO SORRY FOR NOT UPLOADING EARLIER! _ *sniff sniff* I kind of lost the dying will to write. XD XD To make me feel in the mood again, can you guys please leave a review? Just a simple "i love your story" type, :)) :P Thanks!<p>

The tenth chapter's on it's way for creation. Get ready. :P

To those who added my stories to their favorites, added me to their favorite authors and added my works to their story alerts, THANK YOU! ARIGATOU GOZAIMASHITA! DAISUKI DAYO! :PP :))


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Slowly, Aoi unwillinglyopened her drooping eyelids that threatened to close themselves. Dazed, dizzy and confused, she looked around. _Green. Wet. Alone. Alone? Where the hell did Fran go? He left without me? How long have I been out of commission anyway? _She shivered. _Cold. Eh… I have to follow his tracks. Was he expecting me to find him in this freaking rain?_ Still feeling feverish, she staggered up and searched for any indication to which direction Fran took. Frustrated at seeing absolutely nothing, she ran east, taking a wild guess. East seemed logical since she heard the beginnings of a box weapon fight at the mentioned way. Aoi soon reached a clearing. She couldn't help but snigger.

"Stop, what do you think you're doing?" a deep voice asked. Aoi sneaked a look at the guy, stifling a laugh; she committed his appearance to her temporary memory. He was somewhat tall, muscular, and lean. He had short hair and was wearing something that looked like a jogging suit, but wasn't one at all. The funniest part of him was his eyebrows. It was sooo thick… and his hair was uhm… in a bob haircut! The scary part? His sword, rather, his four swords. It makes one wonder how does he hold the other two, since he only has two hands like what normal people have. The Millefiore called him by the name Genkishi, but Aoi didn't know this… yet

"Ah… I should ask you the same question," answered Fran who was being encircled by Millefiore soldiers.

"Acting tough are you, Vongola scum, or should I say, Varia underling? Byakuran-sama was right. It would be useless to chase the other two Varia guardians for they would come here by their own accord," Genkishi laughed. If Fran was angry, or perhaps annoyed, he didn't show this. That displeased his foe even more. Awkward silence issued, tense seconds passed by. "So, answer my second question, where's the girl?" Genkishi asked once more, preparing to take his sharp weapon from its scabbard. He obviously wasn't taking 'no' for an answer. If it was necessary, he would torture the Varia scum (as he had put it) to pry out the precious information from him. Byakuran-sama specifically emphasized that the girl should be brought to him ALIVE and her companion as well, but if Genkishi should see fit to kill whoever came along with the girl, then so be it.

"Hm? Aoi? I left her sleeping under a huge tree in that direction," Fran pointed back to the area he came from. The Varia sure live up to their name, they would blackmail, and betray each other but forever remain loyal, and faithful to their boss no matter how scary he happened to be. Life in the Varia Assasination Squad was indeed difficult and its member slots were only reserved for the best. The Millefiore dude, that Aoi assumed was an officer for some sort, sent the remaining soldiers of his squadron to where Fran cruelly left her. Still feeling mildly upset with what the Varia illusionist had done, Aoi decided not to help. She watched as Fran's captor quickly injected a sedate that was suppose to lull Fran into deep sleep while the Millefiore dude muttered to himself that illusions won't work on him as he was a mist user himself.

Aoi almost made the loudest guffaw ever told in history. The thick eye browed commander neglected to notice that Fran started his illusions even before the 'so-called' mist user captured him. "Hello Fran," she greeted him with a sarcastic smile as she stealthily plopped down beside him in his hiding place. "Did you enjoy abandoning me?"

Fran didn't have time to reply. Both he and his clone crumpled into a cataleptic heap. Aoi raised her eyebrow. So the sedative was strong enough to put even the real person into sleep. Interesting. She raised the tree branch at her feet in order to block an incoming attack from one of Genkishi's swords.

"Omoshiroi…" she mumbled.

Genkishi took three steps backwards. "I need you alive. So be a cooperative little girl and take the tranquilizer without any arguments," he said.

"Begging your pardon, but I really don't feel like taking your offer," Aoi politely declined, being the smartass she usually was.

Now, it was Genkishi's turn to raise his eyebrows. In the speed of light, he ended up behind the only girl in the Varia. "That wasn't an offer, it was a command," he whispered as he plunged the injection needle just below her neck.

_Great. Just great. I should have known he was a sly one. How stupid of me._ It was Aoi's turn to crumple into a cataleptic heap.

Around this time, the soldiers Genkishi sent came back, sweating out of nervousness.

"Sir, there wasn't any signs of a single living creature in…" the captain of the platoon started to report to Genkishi, abruptly stopping himself as his eyes took in the scene, "Sir, we shall take them to the headquarters immediately," the fortunate captain saluted smartly and ordered his inferiors to carry the two Varia officers.

The small Millefiore army made their way to their base where Byakuran-sama was waiting… impatiently. Byakuran was devious, he was clever, he was crafty. He always had a plan within a plan. The Millefiore Boss didn't give a damn whether his subordinates died because of him. Whoever said that he needed them to die out of loyalty? Byakuran wanted them to follow his orders because he was scary, because he was the strongest, because he liked marshmallows. Yes, the ever so almighty potent loved marshmallows. Eating them every day gave him a tingle in the spine. It gave him the most delicious sensation ever. Marshmallows became like a drug, a vice that was hard to remove once attained. Just imagine the softness of those sweets as you crunch them with your jaws. Just imagine the taste of its heavenly sweetness. Did you know that they come in different colors? What are you waiting for? Buy the first marshmallow pack you see at the nearest convenience store! A new brand has awakened! It's the "**Dan Dan Dan Marshmallows"**! Guaranteed to fill up your hungry stomach! Tired after sending millions of people to hell? Annoyed at the members of your own Famiglia? Suspecting that your best friend is plotting something behind your back? **Dan Dan Dan Marshmallows** is just the thing to eat after killing everyone who opposes you! Okay, hold up a sec, it's starting to sound like a Marshmallow advertisement. The second best thing after razing then ruling all the parallel worlds are marshmallows. Byakuran knew that from firsthand experience. After all, he had destroyed all other worlds except this one, this one world where the Vongola generation still survived.

"Byakuran-sama," Genkishi repeated once more. He had explained the whole situation to Byakuran yet his boss wasn't responding at all.

"Hmm yes? Any report on capturing the other two Varia officers? " Byakuran asked. He was unaware that Genkishi had been talking to him for the past few minutes. Probably it was because he was thinking of a marshmallow advertisement…

"Byakuran-sama, I have successfully taken captive of the two remaining Varia. I did what you instructed me to do, I placed the illusionist along with his comrades and secured the girl in the torture room, both of them were in drugged sleep when I left," Genkishi dutifully repeated.

"Good, good, very good," Byakuran stood up from his comfy sofa. Like Xanxus, he had taken liking to huge comfortable chairs. Unlike Xanxus, the Millefiore Boss always smiles, no matter what the situation is, but more often than not, his smiles were not sincere. The white-haired boss glided gracefully across the clean, white room and opened the door, making his way to where Genkishi left Aoi. He had business to do.

"Byakuran-sama, what would I do with the other Varia? The ones you don't need," Genkishi asked out of curiosity.

"Leave them be, they have their own parts in the plan," Byakuran mysteriously replied. With this, he disappeared between the closing doors and left Genkishi alone in the room. After a few seconds, the Giglionero traitor left the room and went back to his quarters, awaiting orders from his boss like a loyal dog waiting for its master.

Aoi groggily woke up; it's as if her head was just split into two. It seemed like this kind of thing happened to her most of the time. It was not to her liking at all. She tried to rise up but found out that straps of leather and chains bound her to an examining table. Why did she feel that this had happened back in the past? Before she could have time to expound to this thought, the door to the room slammed opened and lo and behold. Byakuran entered. Aoi pretended to faint.

"That trick won't work on me, Aoi-chan," Byakuran sighed; he ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. _Why were these Vongola scum so stubborn?_

Realizing that her efforts were fruitless, she opened her eyes, giving Byakuran the same glare he was giving her. "Who the hell are you?" She couldn't have asked him in better words. Well, actually she could have said: "Who the fucking hell is the white-haired tattooed idiot blocking the light from my eyes?"

"You don't remember me?" Byakuran innocently asked back.

Aoi narrowed her eyes at his comment. As a matter of fact, she didn't remember anyone in her earlier years, except her brother, due to her memory being wiped out. She remained silent.

Byakuran, on the other hand, sighed again, "I'm Byakuran." He expected Aoi to flinch and screw her eyes shut but all he received was her blank stare. "You really don't know me anymore," he said dispiritedly.

It was Aoi's turn to sigh, "If you want me to remember you so badly then make me remember," she said. The answer was soo obvious. Why can't the guy in front of her realize the simple solution to his great dilemma? She rolled her eyes.

"It isn't as simple as that Aoi. Let's make a deal then, you join the Millefiore Family and I tell you all the frightening details of your miserable past. Trust me, you're in for a very big surprise," Byakuran proposed the Cloud Varia with a choice.

"As much as I want to get my memory back the quickest way as possible, I can't just join the Millefiore in a blink of an eye," Aoi refused, not taking a second to think before blurting out her answer. The Varia, no matter how rowdy, no matter how nerve-wrecking, no matter how aggravating, in a short span of time, the whole team, and the entire Vongola as well became sort of like a makeshift family to her. Heck, even her brother was roped into joining the Mafia's most influential Famiglia. There was no way; absolutely no way in hell was she betraying her comrades. Despite all the internal disputes, a perfect example of that would be the one between the Varia Assassination Squad and the Decimo with his six guardians, the Vongola sticks together whenever some extraterrestrial invader dares to oppose their powers, just like now.

"I would like you to reconsider your reply," Byakuran replied.

_This is strange. He seems to be so diplomatic and calm. He probably predicted my answer… AGHHH… Owww.. Ugh…. _Aoi writhed on the examination table. Horrible, horrible pain rushed through her head. She let out a bloodcurdling scream, "OWW!" She tried to clutch her head with her hands but they were tightly tied to her sides. Her usually pleasant face contorted into a picture that represented wretched pain. _It hurts! It hurts like hell! Oww… Make it stop… MAKE IT FUCKING STOP!_ It was as if her mind was on fire, burning all information in her head. She bawled out again. This time, it was loud enough to reach to the other room which was soundproof.

Byakuran smiled. There was nothing compared to torturing his 'would-be' officer, mentally and then physically and listening to them shriek then beg for mercy afterwards. Well, maybe marshmallows could…

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><p>MARSHMALLOWS! AHHH! Byakuran seems sort of oc. Sorry. *sniff sniff*<p>

read and review please!


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Setting: In the soundproof room just beside the room where Aoi was being tormented by Byakuran's immense power …

"Ushishishi, how stupid of you to get caught in the act of rescuing us," Prince the Ripper taunted the failed savior who pretended to be sleeping.

"VOOII! Bel's right… for once… you good for nothing little pest! Mammon could have done better than you!" Squalo supplied.

"Hn," Levi grunted his support to Bel and Squalo.

"Ara, ara, boys, we should stop the fighting and focus on the escaping instead," Lussuria, ever the peacemaker and the one with the most common sense, suggested.

They turned around, faced then glared at Lussuria. All three seemed to be telepathically saying, "Fuck of you gay idiot."

"Oh my," Lussuria could only mutter, beads of sweat trickling down his face.

Suddenly, a dying will flame fired off a gun. "Trash, stop arguing, you're all making me lose my temper. Give me some steak," Xanxus ordered.

Squalo shouted back, "You damn boss! Can't you see that we're trapped in this aquarium-like cage that currently seems to be unaffected by our box weapons' strongest attacks and yet you act like a spoiled brat asking for some steak!"

A nerve popped in Xanxus's forehead, he fired his weapon again. "Trash, give me some beef steak," he fired another set of dying will bullet attacks at the direction of Squalo who, due to his fast reflexes, dodged all of them.

Fran was unable to withstand the entire racket. His senpai-tachi were having a mighty free-for-all fight and it was irresistible to join.

"This shows how low you guys are," a voice interrupted the squabble which was beginning to show promise. Immediately, box weapons returned to their respective boxes; knives, swords, black umbrellas and guns were sheathed; the brawl ceased, all because of Genkishi. Heads of the Varia glowered at the proud Millefiore officer who didn't care at all to be at the receiving end of the six cold, penetrating and murderous stares. "Fighting over trivial things like rhinoceroses fight for a mate," he continued in his emphatic voice. "Bring her in," he ordered to the sentries guarding the soundproof room. They dragged a girl who was drenched in her own blood. Aoi. She was in such pain and agony that she had a hard time just being mindful of her surroundings. Her mismatched eyes scanned the room and saw her ex-fellow Varia Officers trapped in a cage. No one in the room could tell what was going on in her mind at the moment. "Honor your agreement with the boss and do your job dutifully," Genkishi said.

"Of course, who do you think I am?" Aoi replied back sarcastically, releasing herself from the hold of the guards. "Leave, I would like to kill them by myself." The male sentries looked at Genkishi for approval. He, in turn gave it and all three of them left the soundproof room leaving the blood-soaked Aoi alone with her fellow comrades.

"You betrayed us," Fran numbly stated.

"Of course I did, I only joined the Varia as a pastime to regain all my past memories back," Aoi replied.

"And so, what did that Millefiore scum offer you in exchange of pledging your loyalty to him?" Bel asked in a tone that Squalo hadn't heard for years. It reeked of murder and pure disgust.

"Well duh, he offered to tell me my past," Aoi replied sarcastically, with an air of arrogance that the Varia people hadn't heard her put on before.

"Once you release us from this prison, you're gonna die instead," Squalo swore.

"Oh really?" the illusion of Aoi replied back.

**WHAT WAS REALLY HAPPENING WAS THIS.**

**The real Aoi did enter the room being dragged by the sentries and the minute Genkishi spoke to her, she immediately created a clone of herself that was so perfect that nobody in the room noticed. She made an illusion that she was invisible and swapped places with her double. This mist-trick was so strong that Mukuro could have been proud of his sister, then again, maybe not. But in any case, this illusion was powerful enough to fool even the security cameras which Aoi blocked with her illusions that a full-scaled battle was happening in the soundproof room. Finally safe from the prying eyes of Byakuran, the real Aoi revealed herself whilst keeping her clone talking to her Varia companions.**

"Th-there are two Aoi's…" Lussuria stammered, he and the rest of the Varia members, including Xanxus, looked confused and lost for words.

"Oh please, can't you tell the difference between an illusion and the magician?" the real Aoi snapped back, her line of patience broke. Immediately, the Aoi with a superior air disappeared. What remained was an Aoi who looked so tired that she could have passed out any second. Wincing at every step, her illusions taking every ounce of her strength, she let her body slide to the glass exterior of the prison.

The boys stared at her at surprise. Why was she wiping her blood on the cage? Well, the answer's simple. You need blood or any liquid to escape from the cell, Byakuran told her when she agreed to be his officer to take place of someone called Irie Shouichi who was being closely monitored since he displayed subtle actions that suggested treachery. Since there was no key or card to the prison, once liquid has been spread on its surface, all it took was a little poke to make the prison cell crash. This was exactly what Aoi was doing.

But instead of a hug from Fran as gratitude for saving them, what she got were volleys of knives, bolts of lightning, dying will flame bullets, two swords and a punch. The knives pinned her against the wall, the lightning struck her, as well as the bullets, the swords and the punch. She appeared to have no energy left for dodging and received the blows instead. She coughed out blood a few seconds after the impact.

"Idiots, I only joined the Millefiore as an act to –" she began, after a spitting her blood on the floor. It was amazing how she could stay alive after losing so much amount of blood that could have killed an ordinary mafia person.

"As an act to save you guys," Byakuran continued for Aoi. Everyone in the soundproof room (except Aoi who was too weak to move) looked at the intruder. "How heroic, doing those things for you comrades," Byakuran said, "But it was all in vain."

"You bastard, it was you who –" Aoi began after coughing out blood again.

"Yes, it was me who picked you up after you did _that_ to the scientists, I offered you the same deal but you declined as well during that time," Byakuran cut Aoi off.

"Who in the whole fucking world would want to join you and your twisted cause?" Aoi retorted back, with a surprising vigil for a severely injured person.

"Mukuro Rokudo expressed enthusiasm to my approach," Byakuran replied. This caught Aoi off guard. "But, he said I was a distraction in his own path of destroying the world and said that he had to kill me to get what he wanted," he continued in a slightly disappointed tone.

"See?" She triumphantly commented from her painful situation.

"But, when he tried to dispose of me, I was the one who became the disposer instead," he said.

"You monster! What did you do to my brother?" Aoi asked vehemently. She tore herself from Bel's restraining knives and stood upright despite her huge wounds.

"Interesting…" Byakuran thought. "Like what I implied earlier, I guess I killed him," he said out loud.

"You guessed? You GUESSED? TELL ME WHAT REALLY HAPPENED, YOU STUPID EXCUSE FOR A BOSS!" she shouted. Never had she been that angry, never had she been that frustrated, never had she been that distressed before; all these strong emotions overrode her bloody gashes. "Get THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" she ordered the other Varia while several columns of intense fire erupted from the floor.

"VOOIII! Who are you to –" Squalo started to protest, Bel, Levi, Fran and Lussuria were ready to do the same as well. Xanxus was acting strangely calm, like he knew what was beginning to unfold.

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" She ordered again, interrupting Squalo. She stretched out her right hand and a trident started to grow out of nowhere. Her Hell Ring, and her Varia Cloud Ring ignited with her dying will flames of resolution. Its intensity could rival that of the 10th generation Boss of the Vongola. Her red eye with a kanji started to cry tears of blood. The strain on her body was too much, yet Aoi didn't care. All she cared about was to rip off that smile plastered Millefiore Boss's face. She would make sure that no one would end up the same way as her brother did. "You'll pay for that," she threatened, unleashing her true and hidden power.

The Varia was held captive by Aoi's sudden display of strength. They had no idea that she would be that strong, that she had kept all that raw resolution secret for the period of time she spent with them.

Images flashed in Aoi's mind as she let loose all her entire might. _Blood. The Dead. My hands stained with their blood. White lab medical coats. Oni-chan. Screams of pain. Heat. Terrible heat._ Suddenly, everything clicked. She remembered. It wasn't her brother's fault in murdering the scientists responsible for mutating him and her and several other little children. It was all hers. She couldn't control the six doors to hell as her brother could. It was Mukuro-nichan who deleted all her memories regarding this matter, a matter that was her past. _I was searching for this kind of memory? _She stared at her hands which looked bloodstained. But at the present, it was her blood not anyone else's.

"Aoi?" someone had asked for her attention.

She perked up, her eyes widening, her power was escaping from her once again. She still couldn't control it. Tears sprang from the end of her eyes. _I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. _

"We charge Aoi Tsubasa with the act of mass murder and treason," a deep voice announced, bringing with it a cold atmosphere. It was the Vindice. The law-keepers of the Mafia. Shackles immediately bound Aoi in the neck, wrists and ankles. She sank on the floor and fainted out of gratefulness, giving in to her body that was screaming for rest. She hadn't killed anybody. The Vindice disappeared as quickly as they had arrived, bringing with them a new prisoner to be thrown in the most impregnable cell of the whole jail. They left everyone lost for words, for the umpteenth time.

_Kami-sama, Arigatou. _

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><p>If there were typos and grammatical errors, just deal with it. XD I'm too lazy to fix it. I'll probably correct them sooner or later. :))<em><br>_


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

_sukiyo kirai wakannai kirai_

_sukida igai arienai sukida!_

_suki to kirai wakannai tomarenai_

_suki kirai_

Fran dropped himself on his bed as soon as the Varia returned to their base. When the Vindice left, Byakuran and his cronies disappeared as well, probably to plot more plots that would probably kick the Vongola's butt like what he did to Aoi. Fran had never once imagined that she was a criminal. Her attitude and actions were so different from all the bad people he knew and killed. Although she could be hot-headed, noisy, and irritating at times; she was the kindest, nicest, most patient and most forgiving person he had met, in his whole life. Aoi was also quite cute… and when he kissed her, her lips was the sweetest thing he had ever tasted… in his whole life, better than honey, better than that ice cream he stole from Belphegor. _Waiiitt…. What am I thinking about? Aoi's an ex-Varia now. Xanxus would probably hire somebody else to take her place._ Already, Fran felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. _Waiiitt… what? I don't understand what I'm feeling. Depressed? Well yeah. Annoyed? Well yeah. Irritated? Of course! I got it now! I'm hungry…. The hunger's driving me insane…_

A few weeks passed. The Varia settled down to its normal routine before Aoi arrived. The regular "I'll bash you to death" atmosphere was still in place. The habitual glares and orders for steak still happened. Squalo, Bel, Lussuria and Levi acted as if nothing happened to the Cloud Guardian. They didn't care… probably. But Fran was never the same. Sure he kept the same impassive face. Sure he kept teasing Bel. Sure he kept acting like a smart ass, but somehow something was gnawing in his heart.

"VOIII! Fran, what are you spacing out for?" Squalo shouted near Fran's ear, effectively jolting him out of his reverie.

"Sempai, we're on a stealth mission, don't you even know what STEALTH means?" Fran retorted.

"VOIII! Who the hell would give a damn about that? The Millefiore infiltrators are dead anyway," the sword master replied.

"Tch. The sound of your voice could be heard from a hundred meters away, I wouldn't wonder if we see some Millefiore scum prowling behind our backs," knives shot through the darkness, accurately aimed, killing a squad of Millefiore behind Squalo and Fran. "Ushishishi. You understand my point?" the prince interrupted.

"Ah. Bel-senpai, I thought the boss assigned you to the east wing of the Ninth's mansion?" Fran asked, without batting an eyelash.

"You nitwit, he assigned _both_ of us to go west, to intercept about three squads," Bel corrected.

"Ah, really?" Fran followed Bel and left Squalo alone.

"Mou, this is such a hassle," Lussuria complained inside the mansion while waving his pinky and defeating a whole platoon of Millefiore soldiers. Talk about multitasking!

"Oni-chan! We need help here!" a wounded Varia subordinate along with several others in the same situation burst from the door.

"It can't be helped," Lussuria activated his sun peacock and used its attributes to heal the injured.

"For the boss," Levi muttered in another room inside the Vongola Mansion. He and Lussuria were assigned there by the captain, but not quite the official captain, Squalo. Levi had just electrified about a hundred of his enemies and he wasn't even breaking a sweat. Talk about the Varia! He turned around to intercept another volley of attacks. "What weaklings, I'll put an end to your suffering."

Squalo turned east (yep, that was his job not Belphegors', not Fran's) to slice down more Millefiore soldiers. Just as he stabbed through one soldier's chest, one of his subordinates fell from the tree above.

"VOII! What is that damned boss doing?" he shouted.

The injured fighter muttered, "The boss said he ordered steak."

"There is steak!" Squalo shouted while paralyzing one of his enemies. One of his men fell again.

"It was pork, he wanted beef," the man reported.

"VOII! But we also brought beef!" Squalo shouted, killing another of his foes, with his deathperation rain flame-coated sword. With a thud, another badly beaten man fell to the forest ground.

"We cooked the beef but it fell to the floor," the badly beaten man supplied.

"VOOOOOIIIIII! That damned boss! We're fighting here and he just wants to relax and eat steak?" He shouted an earsplitting roar and went to where his boss sat, tearing down anyone who stood before him.

Meanwhile, Fran and Bel were also having troubles themselves.

"Senpai, can I remove the knives on my back?" Fran asked.

"Polish them before you give them back to me," Bel replied.

"Yada," instead of polishing, as Bel ordered, he plucked the knives off and dropped them to the ground.

"Drop one more and you'll experience hell," the ripper threatened. At this point, instead of dropping them, Fran began to bend them instead. "Bend and drop one more and you'll really be seeing hell."

"Ah…" Fran clutched the remaining knives and waved them up in a manner that can be interpreted as surrender but as he did, the knives flew off his grip and landed on the forest ground with a clatter.

"Ka-ching," Bel ignited his ring and opened his box weapon and Mink appeared.

"Yabai," Fran muttered. Mink aimed straight for him but when he was inches close, he turned and circled around his master and Mukuro's apprentice. Mink was awarded with screams of anguish and terror; the whole forest glowed with red fire. The knives were forgotten, thankfully. "Senpai, you didn't even consider the thought of setting this whole forest into fire haven't you?"

"Hmm? Yeah," the red flames subsided and Mink settled on Bel's shoulder.

A sly chuckle was heard from above. To Fran, it sounded like his senpai's laugh but when he looked, he saw someone identical to Bel.

"Hello little brother," the guy said, reclining on a red leather seat that looked very much like Xanxus's, "Did you miss me?"

Fran turned to Bel, who was frozen in place, "Ushishishi, who are you?" Bel replied.

"Hmm, still playing dumb? I'm Rasiel, you're older brother," Rasiel answered.

"Ah, senpai, I thought you murdered your brother?" Fran inquired.

"I did, it went like this…" and so, I, the author, take a page out of Bel's story of how he murdered his brother, which you (the reader) surely know because just as I am, you are most probably a KHR addict. So for the meanwhile, I recommend you to listen to Kagamine Len singing 'Nya, nya, nya, nya, nya, nya, nya nyanya nyanya! Nya nya!'

"Ehh… and so, killing your own kin is dangerous and good little kids shouldn't try it at home," Fran counseled, ever the calm boy who offers advices to young viewers.

"Teme, who are you talking to?" Bel asked out of annoyance, "I did kill my brother; the person in front is an illusion."

"No he's not."

"Yes he is."

"No he isn't."

"Yes he is."

"Are you guys done with your little chat before I send you to hell?" Rasiel asked, yawning out of boredom. "Bel, if you're so unsure, do you remember these scars you gave me and the little moon-shaped birthmark on the side of your belly?" Rasiel lifted his shirt, exposing the healed scars and the birthmark.

"Ehh… Bel-senpai, he's right," Fran said, lifting Bel's shirt, exposing his tummy.

"Idiot, and who gave you permission to lift my shirt?" Bel threw his knives on Fran's frog hat.

"I had enough of your games," Rasiel announced, "Die, because the prince said so," he activated his box weapon, releasing storm bats. At the same time, Rasiel's butler released his box weapon; the animal that appeared was huge and grey.

"You idiot, why didn't you open your box weapon?" Bel asked, one of his nerves popping.

"I couldn't do the pose I was planning to do. You know those things that the superheroes do. I couldn't raise my arms upwards because this huge black frog hot blocked my way, " Fran replied.

"No," Bel was about to add another word, but Fran and he popped, LITERALLY.

"What idiots," Rasiel muttered," and what a waste of time. Let's go," he left along with the macho butler.

In a few seconds, the real Fran and Bel dropped from the trees.

"Did you really have to kill me tragically, with much blood and gore?" Bel asked.

"Hai senpai, the illusion had to be realistic," Fran replied. All he received as an answer was a knife. "Itai, senpai," he complained.

"Let's go to the boss. I want to see my brother dead, for good," Bel said, and so they did, after they cleaned up the Millefiore trash around them.

They made it just in time to hear their boss say, "Tch, you trash, when the Vongola is threatened or faced in danger, we combine all our strengths together," as Rasiel and his companion crumbled into dust.

See? The world didn't end even when Aoi was missing from the scene. Many things happened when she was in prison. The Vongola ninth died. The next boss in line, Tsunayoshi Sawada appeared dead, but his ten years younger counterpart, came to the future via Lambo's ten years to the future violet cannon along with the last Arcobaleno of the era, Reborn, and his guardians. They fought Byakuran to restore peace in the world and to bring them back to their own past. Tricky isn't it? Tsuna and his friends thought that by destroying the huge round-shaped device in Irie Shouichi's base; they would be able to return to their era. But no, that was just a ploy to get the Vongola guardians into more intense training. This was to help them get stronger faster to be able to land a heavy blow to the real Millefiore guardians which included Byakuran. Tsuna (the boss), Gokudera (the storm guardian), Yamamoto (the rain guardian), Hibari (the cloud guardian), Ryohei (the sun guardian), Chrome/Mukuro (the mist guardian), and Lambo (the thunder guardian) were fighting Byakuran and his subordinates in a game called 'Chance'. However, they were defeated. Fortunately, Uni, came back to her consciousness and asked Tsuna for her protection and ultimately forced Byakuran to give Tsuna and the others a second chance. They were able to escape and now, are preparing for the second bout against the Millefiore Boss.

* * *

><p>Yessss! Chapter 12! Agh. Summer's almost over. MUST. FINISH. BEFORE SCHOOL. STARTS.<p>

The lyrics came from the song Suki Kirai sung by Kagamine Rin and Kagamine Len. :P

Thanks for all the faves and reviews! If i made some grammatical errors, please feel free to comment. :))

Read and review please! Arigatou gozaimasu!


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

_mou! aitsuno kokuhaku tteyatsu_

_atama no naka guruguru to mawaru_

_suki kirai mannaka wa aruno?_

_semarareru ni taku_

_mou henji wa kimatteru hazusa_

_"Wedding" sou bijon wa kanpeki!_

_souda, sumu nowa matsu tou atari ga iina_

_kodomo wa 3 nin kanaa_

It was quiet, way too quiet for Aoi's liking. She was locked in the cell which was the most secured of the Vindice prison, her brother right next to her own personal jail. What made it so hard to escape from was that they were immersed in water, making their aching limbs go numb, not to mention that they were forced to wear a straitjacket that was enhanced to prevent them from igniting their rings, making all efforts useless and all for naught. That was the situation now, useless. Was there any hope of escaping? How long had she been stuck in the Vindice anyway?

Aoi had been altering between taking catnaps and the twilight between sleep and being fully awake. At least she had time to think… slumber took her over, making her mind go blank…

She blinked. _Heey… is this a dream or reality?_ Her eyes widened up. _Whoa, a guitar in a place like this?_ She picked it up hesitantly, wondering that if she did, it might disappear into thin air. But it didn't. She smiled in pure joy and overwhelming gladness, getting ready to pluck the metal strings and sing her heart away, after all, no one was around anyway. It was only just her, the grass and the guitar. But wait, there was something nagging in her mind. She was supposed to be looking for someone. But who? It couldn't be her brother, she already found him. Then who was she looking for? Oh well, the answer would pop up in her head sooner or later. She might as well enjoy the time alone with her thoughts. She roamed around the area; letting them (her thoughts) run free. The place was so quiet, so green and the air seemed to taste sweet. Just like Fran! Waiiit… whhaaat? Why did she think of him at a time like this? What she needed to ponder about was a full-proof escape plan, one that was not bound to fail… definitely not the way Fran kissed her. Not the way his lips roved over hers, seemingly desiring for more. _Agh! What the fuck am I thinking about? Fran's just a fellow officer! Heck, I'm not even sure if we're friends or not…_ still, she couldn't help but relive the scene, images of what happened replayed on her head: Fran pressing his body against hers to probably cover her rings from the Millefiore Soldier while deepening the kiss. At that time, Aoi tasted something sweeter than anything else. She wanted more… _waiiit… what?_! Her quivering fingers touched her lips, as if to make sure that the kiss didn't disfigure it (what a delayed action). No. no. no! It was wrong, plainly wrong, to like somebody like Fran. If she devoted herself to him, there was absolutely no way of knowing if he would, or even could return those feelings back, being the indifferent person he is.

"But you do like him, you just said so yourself. Quit fooling around," a sly voice whispered just right behind her back.

Aoi took a deep breath, "Shut up, I don't need your opinion," she snapped.

A hand snaked out of the blue and tapped her shoulder."Still in denial? Let me enlighten your false beliefs, if you think of somebody that deeply, then that means you feel something for that person," it said.

"Shut. The. Fuck. Up," she muttered, turning around, not at all surprised to find herself facing herself. Another Aoi was staring straight at her, with a teasing smile playing around her lips. "What's soo funny?" the real Aoi was irked out.

"It's just that you've been contradicting yourself for a while now, still unaware of the things you hold for Fran," the other Aoi replied, amused.

"You're pissing me off," the real Aoi replied back. She made an illusion of her favorite set of headphones and wore them. "Go away."

"Ehh… fine then, I'll leave you alone, with Fran," she said to the real Aoi's pretending-to-sleep figure. Aoi's inner personality smiled as her outer self opened her eyes wide, in shock. The inner self disappeared, showing Aoi a very surprised and somewhat confused Fran.

"F-fran, what are you doing here?" she stammered, stumbling over her words, her cheeks tainted with light pink.

"I don't know," came Fran's blunt answer. He was surveying the area, "Where exactly is this place?"

"Uhm… do you really want to know?" she hesitated. What would be his reaction? Will he react? Will his face remain blank? _Ugh. Why am I being so concerned?_ Her brows furrowed.

Fran saw the change in Aoi's expression. He was curious. "Well, I wouldn't be asking if I really want to know."

"Ahh… uhmm… you're in my dream…" there was no use in asking if he was an illusion or not. Really powerful mist users are capable of entering the recess of a person's mind. Aoi was actually impressed, no one, not even her brother has ever penetrated her mind.

"Oh," Fran muttered. His looked unaffected by Aoi's proclamation.

"Uhm…" Aoi fidgeted with her fingers. This was a first, Aoi was nervous. The weather of the area seemed to change. Wind suddenly whistled through the trees, making the sunny atmosphere turn a bit cold. "Awesome," she exclaimed. She laughed like a baby and ran to the tree and climbed it. The wind stopped and the sky became bluer, the sun's rays gently caressed Aoi's and Fran's skin. Suddenly thunder rumbled from the heavens and water came pouring down. Aoi was playing with her emotions. She was delighted that the rain didn't soak her skimpy, sleeveless, white dress. The sky brightened up again. "Fran! Fran, come here! The view's superb!" she laughed, settling down on a tree branch.

This was a first, Fran never heard someone laugh so carefree. Other kinds of laughs he had heard were one in a teasing manner, another stating evil intentions, others were just plain sarcastic. He couldn't resist Aoi's request. She just looked so cute when she laughed, it was pretty hard to resist. "Eh…" he said upon reaching her. He sat right next to Aoi and stared at the landscape. It was indeed marvelous, stupendous, superlative.

"It's nice isn't it?" Aoi faced Fran, eager to see his reaction. All she got was an apathetic look. Her grin faded. "Jeez, why don't you ever show your emotions… no one's here to see it anyway, except me," she pouted, annoyed. The scene changed, the sky darkened and stars twinkled in the sky. Shooting stars fell from the heavens. "Ahh! Fran look, look!" she pointed to the stars, hopeful for a response.

Fran was intrigued. Aoi was acting very persistent. She was intent on the goal to make Fran smile, or frown, or pout, or laugh. If he did either of those, would she smile more? Or would she show more of her angry face. He, on the other hand, wanted to see Aoi's emotional limitations. It would be really fun to use it against her for blackmailing. As a reply, he just sat there.

"Tch…" she crossed her arms, her lips forming an angry pout. "Is-" Aoi didn't continue what she was planning to say. The tree branch cracked. It couldn't withstand any more of their weight. It gave up on them. "Oh shit! Pillows! Pillows!" Aoi screamed. Immediately, pillows appeared below them. She grinned, "Oh that's just soo cool…" She tilted back and lied down on them, closing her eyes in contentedly. For the moment, all her problems were forcibly pushed in the back of her mind, what mattered now was that Fran was with her.

"Ne, Fran, why are you here?" Aoi asked in a soft voice. "Is it because you… ahh…. Anyway, answer my question."

"I don't know, I was sleeping… I think, and then I suddenly arrived. Oh right, I was dreaming of you," Fran replied.

"Eh?" Aoi blushed, "dreaming about me? What exactly about me?"

"When people were beating you up in some kind of laboratory with Master. Your blood was splattered on the floor," Fran said. Aoi's eyes widened up. She wasn't expecting that answer. She definitely did NOT want to remember any of her past. She gritted her teeth. "I didn't know that you were really afraid of the dark, during that time in Boss's birthday party, I thought you were just acting."

"Oh," replied the disappointed Aoi. She was remembering the times when she stood up against her torturers to save her brother. When she was locked up in a dark, scary, dirt-infested chamber with nothing for company except for spiders and some huge rats she named Darry and Gimmy. She was scared. It was scary being alone. She hated being left behind, abandoned, disowned. As if to tease her, the stars in the sky disappeared, leaving her in darkness. "Fran?" she called, no one replied. "Fran? Where are you?" she asked once more, panic rising in her voice. She sat up and groped around, feeling for him. When her hands came in contact with nobody tears welled up in her eyes. "I.. hiccup… d-don't… want…. Hiccup… t-to… be… al-alone a-anymore!" she cried.

"This is a surprise. Who knew Aoi could be such a crybaby…" Fran thought. It really was rather fun to discover intriguing things about his fellow teammates. It kinda made him feel protective of her… waiitt… why was he feeling so softhearted now? He tossed aside the feeling and emerged from his hiding place under some pillows. Aoi felt his movement. Blam. "I c-can't b-breath…" he gasped.

Aoi hugged Fran with all her might, she sniffed. "You meanie, don't ever hide from me again… hiccup… you already know I despise the dark… hiccup," tears fell on Fran's white shirt as she clutched him tight, her small body shaking.

Fran sighed, this was weird. What was that funny feeling in his chest? Suddenly he was aware of Aoi's beating heart, the heat emanating from her and her body pressed against his. He sighed. For some unknown reason, he cupped Aoi's tearstained face with his hands. He didn't like anybody to see her act the way she did when she was with him. An uncontrollable force took over the logical part of his mind, he leaned closer.

"Eh?" Aoi hiccupped in surprise. Fran's lips collided with hers. Ehhh? What does this mean? Her mind was screaming two things that contradicted each other completely: (1) What the hell is he doing? (2) More, I want more!

Just like before, Fran deepened the kiss. It was really sweet, he confirmed. _Wait… why am I doing this again? _He broke apart. He looked at Aoi who looked back at him, confused. He pushed her onto the pillows, him landing on top, his face some inches away from hers.

"Na-nani?" Aoi turned beet red. "F-fran, what do you think you're doing?"

"What… you ask, I don't know, can I kiss you again?" Fran said.

"Eh? Wh-what for?"

"Ne, Aoi, do you like me?" Fran asked, using her name for the first time without honorifics.

Aoi's cheek muscles twitched. This guy has absolutely no sense of discretion… "I'd like to ask you the same question," she replied.

"No. I don't."

"Eh? Come again?" Aoi stuttered. _I knew it. I just knew it._

"I don't like you."

"Ehh, I see… please get off me, Fran-kun, I still have to think of a way to escape from my prison," Aoi replied in a cold voice.

"Hm?" Fran didn't budge, he was shocked at Aoi's sudden use of honorifics. She had never added –kun to his name before. It bothered him. What did he do wrong?

"I said, please get off me," she mumbled. Fran stared down at her, she was trembling, struggling to hold the tears that threatened to pour while trying to frown. He did as she said. "Please go away."

"Yada. Why should I?" Fran answered, "Can I kiss you now?"

Aoi exploded, she hadn't been this hurt in ages, and it was a good excuse for tears to come out now. Any person could have easily interpreted that as tears of rage. "Fran-kun, you idiot! Why should you not leave? Why? You dare ask that especially when you come barging inside my head for no particular fucking reason, meddling with my thoughts and confusing me? Now, before I pummel you into tiny little pieces… Get. The. Fuck. Out. Of. My. Head!" she burst out. Not far away, a volcano erupted, and thunders crashed down.

The dream collapsed. Fran woke up, sweating and very… perplexed. What made Aoi act like that? Oh well, a war still had to be fought. The Varia would go to Japan to help out the tenth… Which made him remember, he still had to go and rescue Mukuro from his cell in the Vindice. Maybe then, he could see how Aoi managed in it.

When Fran disappeared, Aoi crumpled to the ground, crying, still in her dream. _I knew it, I knew it would turn out this way… but why am I in such pain? Aho-fran, dame-fran, baka-fran. Stupid, stupid, STUPID!_ She wiped the back of her hand across her eyes; it was useless crying over it. _Crying would hardly change anything. Oh well, I still have to escape from this place… but how?_

* * *

><p><em>YOSH! TOUCH THE UNTOUCHABLE, BREAK THE UNBREAKABLE, ROW ROW FIGHT THE POWER! I'LL KICK REASON TO THE CURVE AND GIVE IT ALL I'VE GOT!<em>

WOOOT!

CHAPTER 14 ,COMING RIGHT UP! THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS!

I'LL WRITE TO THE EXTREME! :))_  
><em>


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 **

An explosion happened amongst the trees where Hibari, Nozaru, Tazaru, Ryohei and Lambo were lying in ambush for the Cloud Funeral Wreath.

"Corne Fulmine!" Lambo screamed as his Vongola gear turned into a shield and helmet, releasing a shock of electricity to the Velociraptors surrounding him, killing them.

"Yosh! That's it Lambo! Kangaryu, Cambio Forma!" Ryohei shouted to the extreme in the top of his lungs. His animal box weapon turned into the Vongola Sun gear of the first Sun guardian. "I'll make sure to defeat you in three minutes!" he told Kikyo.

"Ho-ho, is that so? Then come!" Kikyo replied. They commenced in an air battle. "The reason why you set a time limit for yourself is because your power could only last for three minutes," he said to Ryohei.

"Tch," Ryohei was irritated, "Maximum Cannon!" he put all his Sun dying will flames in one awesome, mighty punch yet Kikyo wasn't even injured.

"Futile," he mumbled, "is this all, Ryohei, sun guardian of the Vongola?" his Velociraptors erupted from the ground, severing Hibari Kyouya's arm who was staying out of view among the greenery. More of his dinosaurs wounded Ryohei's companions. "Hmm? There's something… wrong…." Kikyo furrowed his eyebrows.

Meanwhile on the other side of the forest which became a battleground, Gokudera was being overwhelmed by Zakuro's power. He was too strong. Just as he was about to resign to the thought of dying by one of Byakuran's minion's hands…

"Ushishishi, how pitiful," in a nick of time, the Varia appeared from the smoldering trees.

"You…" said the amazed Gokudera. He didn't think that the Varia Assasination squad would help out in the final battle against Byakuran.

"VOOOIII! Give it a rest; it isn't fair that you guys get the entire spotlight," shouted Squalo.

"Tch, fine then," Gokudera mumbled, leaning against a tree as Lussuria set to work, curing his injuries.

"You bastard, who the hell do you think we are?" Xanxus muttered. A hell of a battle issued against the Varia and Zakuro, the storm Funeral wreath. Bluebell, the rain Funeral Wreath, joined in as well. Bluebell succeeded in encasing Xanxus and the other Varia present inside a bubble like thingy, drowning them.

"Ehh… they seemed surprisingly weak," Bluebell said. "Chotto… na-nani?" The figures of Xanxus, Bel and the other Varia disappeared.

"Ushishishi…. Fran, why did you make us die like that?" Belphegor asked, his knives gleaming as the Vongola guardians and Varia members emerged from the clearing of trees.

"If it wasn't gory, then it wouldn't look real, wouldn't it?" was Fran's tactful answer.

"Tch," Bel threw his knives on Fran's frog hat. "And how long are you going to keep that illusion of Mukuro Rokudo?"

"Senpai," Fran scolded, "Master's not an illusion, he's real, he escaped from the Vindice prison."

"That's right," Mukuro said. Everyone around him gasped. It was impossible! Yet, he was here.

"Ushishishi, then did you guys escape with Aoi?"

"Uhh… no... the plan was only fit for one person," Fran replied.

"Ja, I have to get my box weapon from Chrome," Mukuro announced. He vanished, after a few seconds, Fran followed afterwards.

"VOIII! What the hell is that?" Squalo shouted, pointing to a large, humanoid-ish giant.

"It's huge!"

"Nani? It's sucking up our dying will flames!" Basil said clinging to a tree.

"Yabai… This is bad," Yamamoto mumbled.

"Tsuna, go, you are needed there," Reborn told the tenth a hundred or more meters away from the battle.

"Un," Tsuna agreed, swallowing dying will pills that enabled him to go to Hyper Dying Will mode.

"Tsuna-kun, gambatte!" Kyoko and Haru said.

"Hai. Then, I'm off!" he shot through the sky, headed to his comrades in danger.

"Kyaa! Nande? Byakuran-sama! Nande?" Bluebell screamed as she and Zakuro were sucked in by Ghost (which was the name of the humanoid thingy). All attacks against him were ineffective, as Xanxus and Gokudera soon found out. It still continued its pace, absorbing all the dying will flames.

"Zero Point Breakthrough!" Tsuna said as he did the attack of the Vongola Primo. It was a battle between absorbers. Who would win? Who did win? As you may have guessed, it was Tsuna.

"That's our boss!" Gokudera preached.

Tsuna however was puzzled. Why didn't he feel any surge of power as he always did after absorbing the ghost?

"All of his power came to me," Byakuran explained as he appeared from the sky. "He was another form of me in another parallel world."

"You…" Tsuna gritted his teeth.

"I'll bite him to death," Hibari raised his tonfas.

"Trash, stand down, I'LL bite him to death," Xanxus loaded his guns.

"I believe the honor goes to me," Mukuro said, gripping his trident tightly, with the hand that bore his two hell rings and Vongola mist ring he got from Chrome.

"Stand back, I have unfinished business with him," Tsuna ordered, a sudden burst of dying will flames appeared from his forehead.

"Hmm? Really?" Byakuran smiled. He let Tsuna attack him first. The tenth scored a few hits to Byakuran's body. But then, the Millefiore boss showed a few of his tricks. Within a matter of minutes, Tsuna was on the ground, badly injured. Byakuran laughed, "Is that all?"

"I, I can still go on…" Tsuna stood up, emitting such strong sky deathperation flames. It collided with Byakuran's. After a few minutes, another ball of intense dying will Flames connected, it was Uni!

"Hime-sama!" Nozaru and Ganma shouted, "what are you doing there? Get out!" they made ready to fire their weapons but…

"I-I can't move," Gokudera said, as he strained to move his limbs.

"Neither can I…" Lussuria mumbled.

"Wh-what did you do?" Tsuna asked Byakuran, as he himself was unable to move.

"Why do I have to explain it to you?" Byakuran smiled… evilly. He made a crushing motion with his hand and then a huge fist crunched Tsuna's bones, causing him to black out.

"Juudaime!"

"Tsuna!"

"Tsu-kun!"

"Tsuna-san!"

"Sawada-dono!"

His comrades' voices reached Tsuna's ears but he still couldn't move. "Nngh…" he struggled, but all efforts were still useless, he still couldn't break free.

"Tsuna, stand up," Reborn ordered. A few tense minutes passed, nobody could do anything to save the tenth.

"Ehh… that's unfair!" a girl's voice rang from above, carrying a wicked scythe which she used to penetrate through the sky dying will flame dome. Because of this, Byakuran momentarily lost his hold over the Vongola Boss. Tsuna fell to the floor, still unconscious. "Did anybody miss me?" she grinned roguishly.

"You… how did you escape from Vindice?" Byakuran asked, fuming, his plans might just get destroyed because of Aoi.

Ryohei, Gokudera, Yamamoto, Chrome, Spanner, Irie and Basil were shocked. "Vindice?" they all shouted. Hibari and the rest of the Varia raised their eyebrows. Reborn remained silent. There was something familiar about the girl. They could understand it that Mukuro escaped… but a girl? An especially weak-looking girl?

"Oni-chan, that was mean; leaving me behind," she pouted.

"Oni-chan? Who was she talking to?" Gokudera thought.

"It can't be helped, how should I know you would get caught," Mukuro replied, "Besides, the plan was only for one, there wasn't any time to make modifications to it."

"Che, what a lame excuse," she replied.

"O-oni-chan… she just called Mukuro, oni-chan? Who is she?" Yamamoto asked.

"Arara, you guys haven't met Aoi-chan, haven't you? She's the Cloud Guardian of the Varia," Lussuria answered.

"C-cloud Guardian?" Basil stuttered.

"VOIII! But in the past few months, she was sought by the Vindice and got imprisoned there for murdering a bunch of people when she was a kid," Squalo added.

Aoi surveyed the area and noticed a certain baby, "Ah! Uncle Reborn! You're alive?" she waved her hand, while ignoring Byakuran. She dodged his attacks. "You idiot…" she said to Byakuran. She was pissed off now. Weapons clashed. A heated fight between Byakuran and Aoi was unfolding. "I'll pay you back for last time…" she muttered.

Suddenly Byakuran clutched his head, "Agh! What the…"

Aoi smiled, stuck out her tongue, "Baka, did you honestly think that only you have that kind of ability?" she teased as he writhed on the ground.

"Just kidding," Byakuran said.

"Eh?" Aoi was took by surprise and received a White Dragon dagger attack that pierced her right shoulder. "Teme…"her vision blurring. "How cowardly, coating it with poison…" she ripped it off. Her red eye suddenly glowed. She opened all six paths of hell at once.

"Sugoi…" Ryohei muttered, "She's so strong, but how come she's using the mist rather than her cloud flames?"

"Oh right! I still have that!" Aoi remembered; she heard Ryohei's rhetorical question. She fired up her Cloud Varia Ring, her dying will flames were roughly the size of Hibari's and launched an attack at Byakuran that sent him unconscious.

"N-Nani.. is it over?" Gokudera asked.

"Of course not! Tenth, get up! It's your turn to beat that guy into pulp," she stretched out her hand. To everyone's astonishment, Tsuna grabbed it and allowed himself to be hauled up by Aoi. "You okay now?" she asked.

"Hai, daijoubu desu, demo, h-how did you-?" Tsuna asked, puzzled on how Aoi knew that he needed time to be able to receive 'Vongola's sin' and to be able to recuperate his strength. She just winked back and used her scythe to slice her way out of the dome of sky deathperation flames.

"Oh yeah, Uni-chan, if you're gonna do 'that' better start now," she called as she walked through the crack.

Uni was taken aback, how did this stranger know that she was going to sacrifice herself to bring the other arcobalenos back to life? She smiled. "Hai!" She began to feed her dying will flames to the pacifier she was holding. It was good that the girl bought her more time.

"Right! I remember you now!" Reborn said.

"Hm? What is it Uncle Reborn?"

"You're that little seven year old kid that the other arcobalenos took care of," the baby said. "I was busy training Tsuna at that time."

"Oh yeah, Uncle Fon, Uncle Collonello, Uncle Skull, Uncle Verde, Aunt Aria, Aunt Lal were the ones who took care of me," she smiled and stumbled.

"Ah," Fran said, automatically catching the falling Cloud Guardian.

Lal was struck by the Aoi's proclamation. "You-you survived?"

"Ehh… Aunt Lal's in human form… yes I did, the Vongola ninth took me in a few weeks before he died, at that time, I apparently became aware of my lost memories before I was seven and was trying to remember, the ninth told me to join the Varia, which I did. When I finally regained my memories, the vindice found me and took me to prison," Aoi explained before falling unconscious.

"Ehhh… so that's how," Lal muttered, as Fran carried Aoi over to a tree to let her rest.

"Yabai, she might die because of the wound," Fran announced. Immediately Lussuria opened his Box weapon to heal Aoi.

"Ganma-aniki!" Nozaru screamed as Ganma passed through the crack that Basil's animal box weapon made after it had combined with the other box weapons. Ganma had disappeared along with Uni as they both used their Flames in order to bring the other arcobalenos back to life.

"Byakuran… I won't forgive you for this…" Tsuna said, clenching his fists.

"Oh? You won't forgive me? You made me lose one of the tools I need to rule this world!" Byakuran screamed in rage.

"Tool? Stop calling Uni like that!" Tsuna went to the stance of his X-burner while Byakuran's legs were wrapped with roots, stabilizing himself to the ground.

"X-Burner!" Tsuna shouted, his voice full of hate. _It was unforgivable! UNFORGIVABLE! Byakuran made Uni sacrifice herself! _The power of his X-Burner was huge, it was overwhelming, Byakuran lost and disintegrated from the heat.

"It's over," someone exhaled.

"Juudaime, you did it!" Gokudera ran to Tsuna.

"Demo, it is really worth it? Uni sacrificing herself like that," Tsuna pondered out loud.

"Baka-tsuna, take a closer look at the pacifiers," Reborn said.

"It's glowing!" indeed, the pacifiers were glowing white, suddenly, the Arcobalenos appeared.

"Kora! We're back!" Colonello shouted. There were smiles, laughter and sighs of relief all around.

"It's not working!" Lussuria said.

"What's not working?" Bel asked.

"The wounds on Aoi aren't healing up even a little bit!" the sun guardian was distressed. A wet blanket swept over the Vongola. Even if the others didn't know her that much, it was still painful to see someone who aided Tsuna in the verge of dying.

"Move over! Let me try!" Ryohei used his sun deathperation flames to cure Aoi but nothing happened. She was barely breathing.

"Ushishishi, maybe if we hurt her, she might wake," he let one of his knives fly and watched it lodge to Aoi's arm. No response. "Try healing that, probably it's just your box weapons that are malfunctioning," he snickered.

"Hai hai" Lussuria tried again. The wound she got from Bel healed immediately but she wouldn't wake.

"OI! Mukuro, do something about this! She's your sister right?" Gokudera shouted at the Vongola Mist Guardian.

"Hm? Why are you dragging me into this? We're not even blood related; she's just a duplicate of me. Besides, she won't wake up. She lost her will to live," Mukuro replied.

"You bastard!" Gokudera attacked Mukuro.

"That's unforgivable! Even if she isn't related to you, she still sees you as her brother!" Ryohei joined in the battle.

"Ryohei-nichan, Gokudera, Mukuro-san, stop fighting!" Tsuna pleaded, he was still in Hyper Dying Will mode, but even so, they wouldn't stop. The three caused such a ruckus that the rest of the people around watched, they were too focused at the small battle that seemed to get bigger as other guardians as well as the Varia joined in that they didn't notice on what Fran was up to.

_Dark. It was dark. Am I alone again? I'm scared. Where is everybody? _Aoi's eyes welled up. She was in an extremely black room. No light was present. It was just her. She sniffed, unable to contain the tears any longer. "Waaah!" she cried.

Suddenly, she felt a 'force' pulling her towards the corner of the room which seemed to be glowing. Aoi figured out that it was a way out and didn't resist the 'force'.

"Ngghh..." her eyes slowly opened. Eh? W-what? Wh-why is F-fran–? She felt something over her lips. She slightly parted them open and Fran's tongue took the opportunity to slip inside. "Kyaaa!" she screamed after punching Fran in the chin, sending him backwards. She stood up, "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR? DIDN'T I TELL YOU NOT TO DO THAT AGAIN?" She shouted, her cheeks red, her fist still shaking. Immediately the battle halted.

"Sh-she's awake…" Tsuna stated the obvious.

"Seems like she found the will to live," Mukuro said.

"But how?" Lal asked.

The Varia looked from Fran to Aoi, from Aoi to Fran and back again. They noticed that Aoi was red, Fran was looked slightly embarrassed. They didn't miss the bruise Aoi gave Fran in the chin. Lussuria was the first one to piece over the evidence.

"Arara, Fran you did this… chuuu~" Lussuria imitated a kissing pose, waggling his hips, observing his and Aoi's reaction. Immediately, both reddened.

Squalo, Levi, Yamamoto, Gokudera, Tsuna, Chrome, Ryohei, I-pin, Basil, Lal, Nozaru, Irie, Spanner, Haru, Kyoko, Nozaru and Tozaru all blushed once they realized how Fran managed it. Hibari, Xanxus, Bel, Mukuro and the arcobalenos had no reaction.

"Ushishishi. Really now?" Bel said, he threw knives at Fran's and Aoi's direction. "Getting soft-hearted are you?"

"Chotto! Why are you including me?" Aoi screamed, dodging them. She blocked a tonfa attack to her left.

"Hahhiee, H-Hibari-san?" Tsuna sweatdropped.

"I'll bite you to death," Hibari told Aoi.

"Eh? I'd like to see you try," she replied.

And so, the battle between the guardians commenced.

"VOIII! Aoi! Get your fat ass here! We're going back to Italy!" Squalo shouted. He got hit in the forehead with a well-placed kick as Aoi held Hibari at bay.

"IDIOT! My ass isn't fat! Are you blind, Mr. Oh-my-hair-is-so-long-and-sparkly?" she taunted.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Squalo shouted.

Tsuna could only stare and as he watched the damage Aoi, Hibari and Squalo caused. It was terrifying how they could wreck havoc at such a short span of time.

"Ushishishi, the boss says in three seconds, we would be leaving without you," Bel announced.

"One!" Levi counted. Aoi broke Squalo's sword.

"Two!" Lussuria counted. Aoi grabbed one of Hibari's tonfas and used it to score a blow in his stomach, sending him to the ground. She tossed the tonfa back to him.

"Ja ne! Let's fight next time!" she called as she caught up with her fellow Varia officers.

"Three!" Levi counted.

"URUSAI! I know how to count dumbass!" Squalo shouted as he was able to reach them in time.

"Trash. Let's go," Xanxus ordered. They began to walk away from the Vongola Guardians to their transport that would take them back to their base in Italy.

"Ahahaha, they never changed, didn't they?" Yamamoto laughed goodheartedly.

"H-hai… you could say that," Tsuna replied.

"Tch. They're ten years older and yet they act as immature as they did when they were ten years younger," Gokudera added.

"Un, that's the Varia for you," Ryohei agreed.

Reborn kicked Tsuna in the head, "Let's go home."

"Aye!" the Vongola guardians and their companions shouted happily. Now, after so much arduous training, intense battles, some tears here and there, they could finally return back to their era.

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><p>Ahahaha. Aoi's back! :)) This is the second-to- the-last chapter people. :)) Thanks for all the support and reviews you gave me so far! I love you all! :))<p>

Fran and Aoi both send their thanks as well. :PP


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

And so, peace was restored to the world. Byakuran was gone. The real Vongola Guardians of the era reappeared. The Varia returned back to their base.

But Aoi was still troubled by… things. It had been weeks since Fran saved her from certain death with his 'kiss of life' but they hadn't been able to exchange a word or two since then. It seemed as if Fran was distancing himself away from her. It hurt. Her chest hurt. _Ugh. Annoying._ She squished the grapefruit she held between her fingers.

"Aoi-chan, it's bad to waste food like that," Lussuria reprimanded.

"Ah, gomen, Lussuria ni-chan," she apologized.

"Worried?" Lussuria asked.

"Hm? Me? Worried? Iya, iya, Chigau, you're wrong," Aoi forced herself to smile.

"I see," Lussuria frowned.

"Anyway, did boss give out any missions?" she asked.

"No, weren't you listening earlier?" Lussuria said.

"I guess not… Ja, I have to go, Tsuna asked me to come by for a while, he said that he had to talk to me about something," she stood up.

"Eh… the boss wouldn't like that."

"I already asked his permission. See you later!" she left.

It had been two months after the ten years younger version Vongola guardians left. During that time, she became close friends with Tsuna and his comrades, despite her fellow Varia officers' reluctance_. Jeez, what was wrong with Tsuna anyway? It was fun to hang out with them… from time to time_. Her thoughts shifted to a certain mist user, not her brother. By the way, she just recently found out that they weren't really related by blood. _Oh well, who cared? Why was Fran acting so distant? Did he hate me?_ _Agh!_ She was so consumed by her own thoughts that she wasn't looking where she was going. "Oof. Ah! Gomen!" she bumped somebody. She teetered backwards, a strong hand reached out to steady her. She looked up, and saw the person of her thoughts.

"Ahh…" Fran and Aoi simultaneously said.

Awkward silence. Still, Fran's grip on her waist didn't slacken. Slowly, a faint tint of pink crawled on their faces.

"Arara, Aoi, I thought you'd go and meet Sawada-san?" Lussuria asked upon seeing Aoi.

"Eh? Uhm… I was just leaving," she yanked herself away from Fran and walked as fast as she could to the exit, "Yabai! I'm an hour late!" she began to run.

Fran stared at her running figure. His eyebrows knotted together. _What was Aoi going to do with Tsuna? Did she like him?_ His mind replayed the scene when Aoi helped Tsuna up. _How come she was so kind to him and everyone else even if it was he, Fran, who saved her from certain death with his 'kiss of life'? Why did she smile at that Tsuna while she frowned at him? She even punched him!_

Lussuria looked at Fran, he sighed.

"Tsuna! I'm so sorry! I made you wait for an hour!" Aoi said, panting as she apologized to the Tenth.

"Teme, how dare you make Juudaime wait like that?" Gokudera, ever present beside Tsuna, growled.

"Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna reprimanded his storm guardian, "No, no it's fine, Aoi, I just finished going over some paperwork, so its okay."

"Ehh, you know, I can't imagine your ten year old younger self doing paperwork," Aoi teased, and laughed afterwards. Tsuna joined in.

"I also can't believe I'm doing this kind of thing…" he sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Anyway, what do you want to talk about?" Aoi asked, getting straight to the point.

"Irie-san told me just now that you escaped from the Vindice, how?" Tsuna asked.

"Eh? Why do you want to know?"

"I was wondering if you escaped illegally, the Vindice would immediately come looking for you then…"

"Oh that, I kinda made a deal with my prisoners," she smiled.

"Hm? What deal?"

"That I would return to the Vindice after 2 months of freedom."

"Why? Why did you do such a thing?"

"Isn't the reason obvious? When the Vongola is in danger, everyone has to help right? Besides, I was itching to pulverize Byakuran even just a little bit."

"But then, you're last day is today!"

"Right! So yeah, the Vindice are collecting me at 12 midnight…"

Silence. Everyone in the tenth's office swallowed the crucial information.

"Then we should throw a party TO THE EXTREME!" Ryohei shouted, breaking the silence.

"Ehhh?" Aoi said in disbelief.

"Is that okay Tsuna?" the sun guardian asked.

"Of course!" the tenth agreed.

So, Aoi stayed over until ten in the night. It was fun partying with the Vongola people. It was really fun seeing their faces when she told them she played an electric guitar.

"H-how? I don't believe you!" Gokudera had said.

"Wanna try me out?" Aoi had replied. Out of nowhere she brought out an electric guitar and proceeded to play a farewell song.

_She thinks I'm crazy_

_Judging by the faces that she's making_

_And I think she's pretty_

_But pretty's just part of the things she does that amaze ne_

_And she calls me sweatheart_

_I love it when she wakes me when it's still dark._

_And she watches the sun._

_But she's the only one I have my eyes on._

_Tell me that you love me, and it'll be alright_

_Are you thinking of me?_

_Just come with me tonight_

_You know I need you_

_Just like you need me_

_Can't stop, won't stop, I must be dreaming_

_Can't stop, won't stop, I must be dreaming_

_Remember the day when we started this_

_And she made the shape of my heart with her hands_

_We try to make some sense of it_

_But she called me on the phone and said…_

_Tell me that you love me, and it'll be alright_

_Are you thinking of me?_

_Just come with me tonight_

_You know I need you_

_Just like you need me_

_Can't stop, won't stop, I must be dreaming_

_Can't stop, won't stop, I must be dreaming_

Afterwards, she had cried. They had comforted her.

Ugh. She was going to miss those idiots. It was already eleven in the night. Only an hour left until she returned to the Vindice prison. She hummed the chorus of the song she just sang.

_Tell me that you love me, and it'll be alright_

_Are you thinking of me?_

_Just come with me tonight_

_You know I need you_

_Just like you need me_

_Can't stop, won't stop, I must be dreaming_

_Can't stop, won't stop, I must be dreaming_

She made it safely back to the base. Just as she was about to enter the living room, she felt a hand grasp her wrist and pull her backwards.

"Success!" Fran thought. Aoi was now encased between a wall and him. No room for escape.

"F-fran-kun? Wh-what are you doing?" demanded the enraged Aoi.

"Why?" Fran asked.

"Why what?" Aoi fumed. Why is it that ever since then, she had been acting this way when talking to Fran? Maybe because it was easier to hide her feelings by being angry or acting irritated…

"Why do you keep avoiding me? Why do you add –kun to my name? Why did you go and visit the tenth?" he asked a barrage of questions.

"Whoa. Wait, before I answer any of those questions, answer mine first. Deal?"

"Yes, deal."

"Do you like me?" Aoi asked, nervously.

"… NO."

"Oh," she bit her lower lip which was trembling. She sniffed. Fran raised his eyebrows at her reaction. "Okay, my answer to your first question: truthfully, I thought you were the one who was avoiding me… I didn't want to see or talk to you because I couldn't bear –because I couldn't take the pain I feel in my heart whenever that happens. I add –kun to your name because it would be terribly awkward to just call you 'Fran' when you just said that you didn't like me and third, I visited the tenth because I had to tell him something really important that has no relation whatsoever to you nor the Varia," she took a deep breath. "Are you happy now?"

It was thirty minutes to midnight.

"What important thing?" Fran asked.

"It won't matter to you anyway, so why don't you just let me go and sleep?" Aoi countered.

"Oh yes it would."

"No it won't."

"I won't let you go unless you tell me."

"Why is it that you make my business yours? I already told you that it wouldn't matter even if I tell you!" she said, her tears flowing down. She frowned and rubbed her eyes fiercely with her hands.

"Tell me, Aoi, please?" Fran said. He was nervous, nervous enough to make him say her name and plead. _What if Aoi told Tsuna that she loved him?_

"I escaped from the Vindice right? In order to do that I made a deal with them, I'd be imprisoned again after two months of freedom and… at midnight, they would take me back… I told you that it wasn't related to you or the Varia._"_

Fran was shocked. He was going to lose her? Just like how he lost his family? His relatives? No! He didn't want that to happen.

"Fran?" Aoi called his attention. It was now or never. He turned to look at her. Her lips hit his. She gave him a brief kiss and broke away. She screwed her eyes shut. "I-I l-love you."

For the first time, Fran's eyes displayed emotion. It softened… a lot. He hugged Aoi with all his might.

"Eeh?" Aoi asked, confused, her cheeks red.

Fran pressed his mouth to her ear and whispered something.

"I did not just hear that…" Aoi thought.

As though Fran read her mind, his breath tickled her skin as he repeated his words.

_So this is what heaven feels like._

The two young people's lips met for the second time of the day. But at this moment, Aoi and Fran didn't hold any reservations.

It was a midnight.

"Voiii! That Aoi! Where is she?" Squalo shouted.

"Ushishishi… first one to kill her wins the game," Bel said.

"Arara, didn't you mean to say, 'first one to find her wins the game?" Lussuria corrected.

"Urusai, has anyone of you seen Fran?" Levi asked. Everyone glared pointedly at Bel.

The prince raised his hands, "Search me, I don't know."

"Senpai, you were looking for us?" Fran asked, his right arm draped casually over Aoi, keeping her close.

"Fran, it's really, really hot, can you let go?" Aoi urged.

"Yada."

"Aww. Come on! Fra-" Aoi was cut off as Fran used his lips to silence hers, tilting her head up using his hand. He let go after a minute.

"Na-na-na-nani?" Squalo, Bel, Lussuria and Levi shouted.

"She's mine," Fran announced.

Aoi sighed at the hopelessness of his case.

"Anyway," Lussuria said, waving the case off, "the boss wants to talk to you, Aoi."

"Hai!" Aoi walked, closely followed by Fran. "Fran, you can't come."

"Yada. I'll go with you."

"You have stubborn-ish issues," Aoi said, sighing… again. She opened the door to Xanxus's room, and dodged a bullet. "Boss, you called?" she dodged another bullet.

"Teme, do you know how much I paid to make the Vindice release you?"

"Nani? They did? I'm free? Seriously?" Aoi did a mock shocked face. For this, Xanxus fired another bullet aimed at Aoi. "Hiiee!" she dodged again.

"And you had the nerve to tell that to Tsunayoshi Sawada…"

"Well, you didn't ask!" she retorted.

"For that, go on this mission," he threw a piece of folded paper to Aoi which hit her squarely on the forehead.

"Ittaii! Nani? What's this? EHHHH? B-be the c-covergirl of the V-vongola M-magazine?" she sweatdropped. "FFRAAN!"

Interestingly, all of the Varia members blushed.

"AHO!" Aoi let her powers go loose, sparing nobody, even if Fran was her boyfriend and all, he got his fair share of bruises. "Baka," she wiped her hands on her uniform and stomped out of the room.

The Varia headquarters had to be renovated again…

THE END.

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><p>YESSS! I FINISH! SORRY FOR THE SUCKY ENDING THOUGH. *pouts* gomen gomen gomen gomen<p>

The song in this chapter is "I Must be Dreaming" by the Maine. Check out there songs, they're awesome. *thumbs up*

I'm planning to make an epilogue. *winks* What do you guys think? Comment me if you want to have one. :))

Thanks for all the reviews! I really really appreciate it!

Oh yeah, if you think something's wrong with my grammar or I spelled Japanese terms the wrong way, please don't be shy to leave suggestions!

Arigatou Gozaimasu! :)) *gives everyone a great big hug.* :


	16. Epilogue

"Ahh! We're finally done!" Aoi wiped her hands on her uniform, smearing blood on the side of her jacket, as she told her fellow officers.

"That job was shorter than usual…" commented Lussuria.

"So what?" Aoi asked.

"It seems pretty fishy to me," Levi muttered.

"Who cares? Come on, let's spend the night in an inn, it's no use going back home, it's too dark," Aoi asked hopefully.

The Varia with the exemption of Xanxus who was too busy with other pressing matters to go along with the mission, just finished disposing of thugs who were attempting to assassinate a famous and wealthy banker in the Village of Impatiens. This person was one of the many unfortunate people who funded the Vongola and paid for their other miscellaneous expenses such as renovating the Varia headquarters whenever Squalo, Aoi, Bel or Levi destroyed it. So those assassinators were assassinated themselves. What a tragedy! It had been approximately a month and three weeks since Aoi was legally freed from the Vindice with the help of her boss. It was also approximately a month after she and Fran got together. Sure they had some pretty stupid arguments and few idiotic misunderstandings but they still managed to keep their relationship. Contrary to everyone's belief that couples act romantic almost all the time, Fran and Aoi were a different thing altogether. They bickered, they teased, they fought with much vigor that in an outsider's point of view, they might have seemed mortal enemies. Lussuria, Bel, Squalo, and Levi didn't give a damn though. It wasn't their business to advice the younglings on matters such as love. Love was sort of like a taboo around them. All that matters was that they remain loyal and faithful to the boss and that they were still able to slaughter people with consent from the higher ups.

"An inn? What's that?" asked Fran, attempting to start a fight with Aoi for the third time of a day.

"Ushishishi, an inn is basically where travelers stay for a night or so, something like a small hotel," Bel answered, "Fran, you don't even know that?" he sneered.

"Sempai, I wasn't asking you, I was asking Aoi," Fran replied back.

"Oh really? Did I hear you mention Aoi's name in your question earlier?" the prince sneered back, slowly removing three knives from his pockets. Fran chose to ignore Bel's question and turned to Squalo instead.

"Let's go then," Fran said to Squalo, while taking Aoi's side and draped an arm on her shoulder.

"Fran! Your arm's way too heavy," Aoi complained.

"Really?" he asked in his indifferent voice.

"Really," Aoi confirmed.

The two began to bicker again. Unable to take the level of noise, Squalo finally acquiesced. "VOOIII! Fine! Let's go to an inn, just stop your annoying bickering!" he shouted, flecks of saliva coming out of his mouth.

"Yay!" Aoi and Fran said simultaneously in a monotonous voice.

They all entered a Japanese Inn. It was a good thing that the Vongola and the Varia weren't well known in the village where they decided to do their job. Instead of running away and screaming out of terror like some cowardly sissies, the customers of the inn just eyed Lussuria, Levi, Squalo, Fran, Bel and Aoi.

"Who are they? They look so… weird," one girl whispered to her friend.

"Totally, and what are they wearing? Matching uniforms? That's so like history!" the friend giggled.

"Look at that person, he's wearing such a ridiculous hat," a man silently said, pointing to Fran.

"Is that person gay? His hair's so long! Even longer than mine!" a woman seethed with jealousy.

"What's the deal with wearing sunglasses even inside a hotel? Is that guy an idiot?" a customer muttered, staring at Lussuria.

"What a nutcase, carrying several black umbrellas when it's summer," a guy chuckled.

"Oh,oh! Look mommy! There's this person wearing a tiara! Is he cosplaying as a princess?" a little boy asked his mother.

"Stupid aniki, it's a girl in disguise," the boy's little brother scolded.

More insults about the Varia's appearances, looks and habits issued as they approached the cashier to inquire if there were still available rooms. Aoi was clutching her stomach and covering her mouth, attempting to stifle her laughter. Her teammates looked very much pissed off and annoyed to the EXTREME.

"VOOOIII!" Squalo shouted; everyone in the inn turned to stare at Squalo as if he was a crazy. "Do you have any rooms left?" he continued, staring at the tough-looking man behind the counter.

The cashier a.k.a. Manager-san, was also in a bad mood, what gave this silver-haired punk the right to shout at him like that? "The only available room is the tiniest one in this inn," he said.

"HAH? Can't you search for any bigger rooms?" Squalo persisted, drawing his sword.

"Mister, if you use violence, I'll call the police," Manager-san threatened.

Aoi saw that if this continues on, they might even be kicked out due to Squalo's attitude. She didn't want that! Sighing, she shoved Squalo out of the way and said, "Oji-chan, can you please give us a bigger room? You can't possibly make me stay cooped up with them, can you?" she smiled.

The customers all did a double take. What the heck was a little, petite, polite, sane girl doing with the insane assortment of guys? Was she kidnapped? Oh, wait, that's impossible. They watched her as she coolly told the long-haired dude and the other guys to calm down.

"Okay, fine, here's the key to your room, all necessities are provided, so enjoy your stay!" Manager-san said.

"Arigatou!" Aoi bowed then followed her companions to their room.

"Tch, acting so high and mighty," Squalo muttered.

"Hmm? What did you say? If I hadn't interfered, they might have chucked us out, baka" Aoi retorted.

"Tch," Squalo scoffed.

"Ah, Bel-senpai, where are you going?" Fran asked at Bel as he strode away from them.

"To take a bath," the prince replied.

"Ah, I'm coming with you," the illusionist said.

"Me too!" Levi butted in.

"Ah! Don't leave me behind!" Lussuria said, waving his pinky frantically.

"VOOIII! I'll be going with you too!" Squalo shouted.

"Ushishishi… copiers," Bel sneered.

"You trash! What did you say?" Squalo bellowed.

Aoi watched as her teammates left her behind. _Jeez. Oh well, its okay_. They left her behind most of the time anyway, might as well get used to it. She carried all her luggage and opened the door. She was astounded by the size of the room. It was HUGE! And really clean. Sparkly clean, no trace of dirt and dust anywhere, unlike the lounging area of the Varia headquarters. And the food laid on the table looked yummy as well. She chuckled. She'll eat first then take a bath.

"Ittedakimasu!" she digged in. "Ah! Delicious!" she licked her lips. _Oh wait, I should leave some for the others just in case they're hungry._

Suddenly, a thunder of footsteps rushed through and somebody slammed the door open.

"VOOOOIIII! Don't you dare eat everything, Aoi!" Squalo shouted.

"Hai hai," Aoi replied, without turning to look at the male members of the Varia. "How could I finish such an-" her voice trailed away as they took their places on the table. They weren't wearing anything! Save for a cloth that was wrapped around their waists. Even Fran was influenced.

"Such an- what?" Levi asked, wolfing down ten pieces of wasabi sushi.

Aoi slammed her fists on the table, sending the food up in the air and back to their plates again. "AHO! At least put on some clothes!" she shouted and stormed off.

"What kind of manners was that?" Lussuria muttered, and looked down. He lost all the blood on his face. They had been running around the hallway half-naked? Apparently the others also realized the gruesome fact and they all ran helter-skelter around the room, hurriedly putting on kimonos that were for available.

* * *

><p>"Idiots," Aoi muttered, red in the face, <em>did they even know that they had a girl in their company? Probably not<em>. She sighed; at least they regarded her as their equal. She made her way towards the bathing area where other girls gathered to relax. _Oh crap, I forgot to bring a towel_… thankfully there were rows of them in the corner. She took off her clothes and slid down into the warm water. Other girls were watching her.

"Ne, ne, we were all wondering why do you have companions such as those weird guys," a girl couldn't resist to talk to Aoi.

"Hm?" Aoi was surprised. She hadn't considered the idea that other girls would want to converse with her. She had assumed that they would all leave once she arrived, as usual.

The other girls looked at each other tensely; maybe the stranger wasn't as kind as they thought. The girl with blue hair was staying silent for a time now.

"Oh, that," Aoi continued, smiling, "I'm sort of in a job with them," she said.

"I see! What kind of job?" one girl asked. She was relieved that the stranger was nice after all.

"It's kinda complicated, you guys might find it hard to believe," Aoi replied.

"Oh…" the girls decided not to push the matter any further.

"Anyway, what's your name?" one girl with long hair asked.

"Can we be friends?" a couple of girls chorused.

"Ah, it's Aoi, sure we can be friends," Aoi grinned, overwhelmed by the warmth she was receiving.

"Hmmm…. Aoi, I've heard that name before…" the girl with long hair mused. "Ah! Never mind! My name's Sayuki, pleased to meet you," she held out her hand and Aoi shook it, sealing the bond of friendship.

"Ah! My name's Kiyo!" another girl with blonde, curly hair introduced herself.

"Mine is Hinamori!" a girl in pigtails gave Aoi a flying hug.

"Ahahaha," Aoi laughed, "It's a pleasure to meet you all!"

* * *

><p>"What the fuck is taking that girl so long?" Squalo impatiently asked, pacing up and down the room, holding a pillow.<p>

"She's probably having a good time chatting with other girls," Lussuria thoughtfully said.

"Ushishishi, who cares about her, let's start the game," Bel ushishi-ed.

"Yeah!" Levi said, grabbing three pillows, he threw it at Squalo who jumped up in the air, dodging it. The pillows' path hit their target, Lussuria, hard on the face, making him stagger backwards.

"You won't lose to me!" Squalo shouted.

"Mou! How dare you!" Lussuria said seriously, flexing his muscles. He scooped up the pillows and shot them with accuracy and agility at Fran, Bel and Squalo. The three couldn't dodge because of its incredibly fast speed.

"Ah, Itai," Fran said, getting hit.

"Ushishishi," Bel snickered after recovering from Lussuria's attack. "You'll pay for that."

"VOOII! You cretin! It was Levi who hit you, not me!" Squalo said, shouting at the top of his lungs.

"I don't give a damn," Lussuria replied.

"You bastard…" Squalo seethed.

A hell of a pillow fight issued, VARIA VERSION. Pillow feathers littered on the floor, tables toppled over, blankets torn into shreds by Squalo's sword and Bel's knives.

The customers could hear the racket the Varia members were making and all went to the manager who happened to be the cashier to complain.

"I've had enough of this!" Levi growled, lighting his Varia thunder ring.

"It's not just you!" Lussuria said, igniting his Varia sun ring.

"Interesting," Fran muttered while his ring glowed indigo with his Mist dying will flames.

"Ushishishi," Bel followed suit and his ring lit with bright red deathperation flames.

"VOOIII! You won't win against me!" Squalo shouted, igniting his own Varia rain ring.

Before any damage could be issued further, the door banged open. All the guys turned to stare at Aoi.

"Eh?" Aoi uttered, her eyebrows raised in surprise. She too, was wearing a kimono. When she realized what her teammates were doing, her right eye twitched. "You bastards…" she growled. Everyone else in the Varia visibly gulped. They had never seen Aoi this angry. Her fists were clenched and her aura screamed death.

"Oi! What do you guys think you're doing?" the manager bellowed, his face purple with rage upon seeing one of the best rooms of his inn in tatters. He was followed by a mob of frustrated customers. They all stopped short after noticing flames emitting from the male Varia's rings.

"Teme…." Aoi muttered; her varia ring suddenly burst, emitting purple Cloud dying will Flames that was bigger and scarier that the others'.

The manager turned to stare at the girl who acted polite to him; beads of sweat ran through his forehead. He should have known! He mentally slapped himself. All the descriptions other Inn managers sent him matched the six who had entered.

"How dare you start a pillow fight without me!" she shouted, punching her ignited ring to her box weapon, releasing Luca, her animal box weapon free.

"Ara, ara, we can still continue it you know," Lussuria reassured his teammate and followed suit. The other Varia members opened their box weapons and started a free-for-all fight, this time, with Aoi.

All the other people watched spellbound… scary… within a few seconds, they all ran away, screaming in terror like some cowardly sissies.

"I remember now!" Sayuki shouted, while running away, "They're the Varia Assassination Squad of the Vongola Family! The wealthiest and the strongest family of the mafia!"

"Ehh!" her friends shouted, scared shitless.

"My inn…" the manager grieved as the Varia fought on, until dawn broke.

The Varia left a day after, leaving the inn in pieces, the roof caving in, the walls in splinters, the windows broken and so much more. Heck, they even forgot to pay! But Manager-san was too scared to ask for it. It would be a few years until the Inn could be open to public again.

As for the villagers of Impatiens, they would now run away in terror and fright like all other people whenever the Varia accidentally dropped by. They learned their lesson.

* * *

><p>And, here is the epilogue. :)) I kinda didn't focus on Aoi and Fran's relationship. XD Hope you guys like it!<p> 


	17. Don't Ignore Me!

**Epilogue 2: "Don't Ignore me!" **

*cough cough and yeah, I couldn't resist.*

Author's note: So yeah, I kinda miss writing about Fran and Aoi. I was looking at some pictures in my picture gallery which has a total of uh…I can't count them all. I came across one picture of Percy and Annabeth that simply screams: DON'T IGNORE ME! Lightbulb. I now found the inspiration to write properly. I hope you guys like it!

Oh yeah, I strongly recommend you guys to listen to Len Kagamine's songs because he's hot and so shotalicious. Kyo-chan's still MINE though. XD

Have you heard Spiral Game by Kagamine Rin, Kagamine Len, Miku and Luka? If you haven't you MUST listen to it. Len's rapping rapes me. :P

Disclaimer: Katekyo Hitman Reborn doesn't belong to me. If it did, I would probably bring Aoi and Sachie (my oc who's paired up with Kyo-chan) to the anime itself.

* * *

><p>A week after the Impatiens Village incident, some battles and a few dinners later…<p>

Aoi had been acting… weird. For long intervals of time during the afternoon, she would seemingly disappear from the rest of the Varia Officer's sight. This had been happening for a few days already. Whenever Xanxus would call for meetings, she would always be late, out of breath, and smelled of chocolate.

"And so… Squalo, Levi, Lussuria and I would be leaving for an important mission," Xanxus ended the daily conference in the lounging area which also served as a meeting place of the Varia officers. He was sitting on his red comfortable chair that he ordered Levi to bring for that briefing.

"Boss," Belphegor, the prince, raised his hand, "So that basically means that I'm left babysitting the uncute kohai-tachi?" he asked, pointing at Aoi and Fran whose head was leaning on his girlfriend's shoulder, eyes half-closed.

Xanxus's eyebrows went higher than normal. This was a hint that literally suggested: Duh.

"VOOIII! What are we waiting for! Let's go!" Squalo stood up from his chair. It seems that he was getting restless from sitting down and waiting for more job opportunities and liked the sound of going to work again. (Read between the lines, he wants to kill and assassinate people again.)

"Levi, ready the transportation, we're flying," Xanxus ordered his subordinate.

"Yes, boss," Levi obediently followed and left the room promptly. Squalo tagged along afterwards. Xanxus got out of his seat and strode through the room and out of the door.

"Oh my," Lussuria placed his left hand on his cheek in worry, "Aoi-chan, be careful, ne?"

"Huh? Oh sure," Aoi was staring blankly into space, brows furrowed, obviously bothered by something.

Lussuria pursed his lips, "Would you give oni-chan a goodbye kiss?"

Aoi recoiled at the sight of gayish but quite strong Sun Guardian of the Varia, leaning towards Fran, "Ew.. fat chance Oni-chan," she said, grossed out.

"Aww…" Lussuria said, disappointed, "Maa, well, see you later! Ciao!" He skipped out of the room to meet up with Xanxus, Squalo, and Levi.

Aoi sighed. She was left alone with Fran and Bel for another weekend of pure torture. Not that staying with Fran was pure hell, staying with Fran was actually fun. If they didn't will away the time kissing, they would talk about stuff or train with each other as Mist users do. Staying alone with Bel, on the other hand, was a completely different story altogether. With every opportunity the prince could get, he would annoy her, throw knives at her, and call her insulting names. In other words, he would try to kill her with every chance he got. But he was never close. Her other Varia officers would intervene and a free-for-all training (*cough battle cough*) would take place. When this happens, Aoi would grab the opportunity to escape. But staying with Fran and Bel together, at the same time was different. They would ultimately disregard her presence and start bickering with each other. During normal days when this would happen, Aoi would do her best to get noticed by Fran. But, when the two male members started the routine, she slipped away, back to where she came from before she attended the meeting with the guardians.

As fast and as stealthily as she could, she dashed through the corridors of the Varia headquarters, hoping that Fran and Bel wouldn't follow her. Thankfully they were too preoccupied with their verbal and physical war to notice she had quietly left the room.

Aoi took a key out of a pocket of her Varia uniform and opened a door.

"Ahh, Aoi-sama!" the cook greeted her.

"Yo!" she smiled, "How are the preparations going?" she asked eagerly.

"It's going good!" the cook answered in a jolly tone, "But we left the final details for you to do."

"Thanks!" Aoi beamed. She walked over to the oven and pulled out a cake. A chocolate cake. "Hoowah! I didn't think it'd be this huge!" she exclaimed, staggering over from the weight.

"Well, you did mix a whole lot of flour, Aoi-sama," the cook (who was a female, by the way) said reproachfully, while helping Aoi carry the humongous chocolate cake to the table.

Aoi reached out for the icing but the cook slapped her hand away. "Hey!" Aoi said indignantly, caressing her hand which stung from the assault.

"Tsk, Tsk, you might be one of our bosses but the kitchen is my territory," the cook explained, wagging her finger. "If I recall, you haven't washed your hands and you're not even wearing an apron!"

"Ah, right, gomenasai," Aoi bowed down in apology. She quickly went to the sink to scrub her hands thoroughly with soap and water, dried them on a clean towel and grabbed the nearest apron which happened to be in the color pink. Aoi grimaced and took a deep breath, among all the colors, what she distasted most was pink.

"Aoi-sama? It's about time to decorate the cake," the cook reminded her.

"Hai! Coming!" she returned back to the table and grabbed the icing. With her Varia jacket sleeves rolled up out of the way, and tongue sticking out of her mouth, she began the task ahead of her.

* * *

><p>"Ushishishi, Fran, repeat what you just said," the Prince snickered.<p>

"You're a fake prince aren't you senpai?" Fran said.

"Take it back," Bel ordered.

"Yada, I don't want to," Fran protested, stubbornly standing by with what he said.

Bel threw his knives at the frog-hat wearing teen, those deadly weapons lodged on the top of the frog hat.

"Itai, senpai that hurts," Fran complained.

"Take back what you said _then_ you can remove them," Bel said.

"Aoi, did you just hear what the fake prince said?" Fran turned his head to Aoi's direction before she left the room, expecting her to reply using her cute voice. "Ah," his eyes widened for a fraction of a second.

"Ushishishi, she left," Bel stated the obvious, "She probably felt ignored," his grin grew wider as Fran stalked out of the conference room, his usually blank face streaked with worry. "The stupid idiots, I knew this was bound to happen," he muttered, pleased with the flow of events. He began to walk back to his room when he noticed his precious knives on the floor. Bended. "That Fran…." He mumbled darkly, "I'll get my revenge soon…" Bel returned to his chair and stayed to wait for Fran.

"Aoi, where are you?" Fran muttered to himself, his forehead beaded with sweat as he searched for her in the numerous rooms of the headquarters.

* * *

><p>"It's done!" Aoi yelled out of happiness. She stretched her hands upwards. Her eyebrows scrunched themselves up when no one replied. "Huh?" she looked around and noticed that the cook and the rest of the kitchen staff were dozing. She giggled. "Eh, it really did take me a long time," she whispered, gazing at her masterpiece.<p>

It was a chocolate cake for Fran's birthday, which was tomorrow. She was able to extract this juicy piece of information from Fran himself due to her constant pestering. The cake had a generous amount of intricate sweet icing. If any guy were to receive this, that person might faint with gratefulness, and deliciousness. Aoi was super pleased with herself. She carefully placed the cake inside a box she was to carry later on.

The cook was watching her do this in half-closed eyes. She sighed. Girls really would go out of their way for the person they love. Who would've known that the Cloud Guardian of the Varia would fall for that blank faced green-haired illusionist? The world is still and would still be full of surprises. She smiled as Aoi hummed the tune of "Juvenile" by Kagamine Len.

"Ah," Aoi said as she noticed the cook looking at her, she gave her a smile.

The Cloud guardian checked her watch and noticed the time, "Ah yabai! It's already eleven o'clock! I gotta go!" she gave the cook a goodbye grin. Aoi then ran out of the kitchen, making sure that her present for Fran was safe and sound inside its box so it wouldn't bounced around as she sprinted away.

* * *

><p>The prince was twirling one of his knives in boredom. That brat hadn't returned yet. Fran probably went to his room to get some shuteye. Just as he was about to stand from his seat and return to his room to take a nap, he heard footsteps going to the conference room. He laid some knives on the floor and innocently sat down again; chuckling to himself at the revenge he planned for his first uncute kohai.<p>

The door creaked open. "Ah," Aoi said, dismayed that Fran wasn't in the conference room. Then again, she had left her boyfriend and Bel bickering at each other hours earlier. She walked towards Bel. Her intention was to ask him where Fran went while attempting to hide the cake behind her back.

Bel was eyeing the mysterious package Aoi was holding. Interested with its contents, he let Aoi approach him a few steps.

"Bel-senpai," Aoi adopted the way Fran referred to the Storm guardian of the Varia, "Have you seen Fran?" she asked.

"Hm?" Bel said_, so that box belongs to that brat_."No, but I think he's hiding somewhere in this room," he answered.

Aoi narrowed her eyes, Bel must be tricking her. Oh well, it didn't hurt to look. Fran sometimes had the tendency to hide himself whenever Aoi was searching for him. Concentrated on her thoughts too much, she didn't notice Bel stick out his foot on her direction. The result? She tripped and fell down (hah! The classic prank still works even on an elite assassin!), the cake skidded on the floor and stopped in front of the door. Aoi was about to get up when she felt pain and blood running down her right arm. _Agh_. Her arm was broken by the elbow because of the stupid prince. _Was he even a real one anyway? _As far as she knew, and heard, Fran had always called the sly storm guardian a fake.

She gave Bel a glare. A glare so evil that the he felt chills on his spine and cold sweat running through his skin. _Uh oh. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to do that._

Before Aoi could start badmouthing the 'fake' prince, the door slammed open yet again.

"VOOOOIII!" Squalo shouted, his feet making squishy sounds.

"Oh my, Squ-chan, you're as noisy as ever," Lussuria entered, his feet made squishy sounds too.

"Didn't I tell you not to call me that annoying nickname?" Squalo replied.

"Demo –" Lussuria started to answer when he saw Aoi in a panic-stricken face with a pool of blood gathering on the floor. "Aoi-chan?" he said in a questioning manner.

"Th-the c-ca –" Aoi stammered, stopping herself in time to point on the squished, trampled and flattened food smeared on the floor. She sucked in a deep breath, "This is bad," she muttered.

"What?" Lussuria, Levi and Bel strained to stare on the brown stuff covering the flooring. It smelled of chocolate. _Tap. Drip. Tap. Drip. Tap. Drip_. Startled with the noise, all three guardians present turned around to locate the origin of the sound. It was Aoi running out of the room, blood still dripping off her arm. They watched as she shoved aside Levi and ran past Xanxus. Both of them raised their eyebrows at the sight of the only girl in Varia fleeing. Xanxus went directly to his room/office as if he didn't see anything.

* * *

><p>Aoi ran straight to the kitchen, banging the door open. (Yup, the doors slammed and banged a lot in the Varia HQ) The cook woke up to the intensity of sound.<p>

"A-aoi-sama!" she stuttered at the sight of Aoi's ghastly wound, "We have to treat your arm!"

"There's no time! Help me make another cake! We only have forty-five minutes left!" Aoi snapped.

The cook was wise enough to obey the irritated Cloud Guardian's orders. "But Aoi-sama, we used up almost all of the flour! There won't be enough for a cake as big as the previous one!"

Aoi stopped in her tracks; she was struggling to put on her pink, flowery apron with her injured right arm. "Then what are we going to do?" she asked in panic.

"We can make several chocolate cupcakes with the materials we have left, oh, it would only take about thirty minutes" the cook replied. Without waiting for Aoi to give her an order, she started mixing the flour, and well, the ingredients to make cupcakes. Aoi smiled in relief. She joined in, her fingers getting tiny cuts in the process.

In the span of the said time, the cupcakes were ready. But the design wasn't as intricate as before. Aoi was right-handed, not left. It was a nuisance to have her right arm broken.

She sighed. "Well, it looks cute, arigatou!" she smiled at the cook and left once more. Only ten minutes left to locate Fran. If he isn't in the conference/lounging room, he had to be in his bedroom. She navigated through the labyrinth of hallways, not minding the pulsing pain in her right elbow. She stood in front of his door, trying to fix her disheveled appearance before knocking. She tied a hanky around her wounded arm, to stop the bleeding; with much difficulty (she was using her teeth and left hand to do so).

_Knock. Knock._ She rapped the door with her pale left hand knuckles. Without receiving an answer, she went ahead and opened the door. Lo and behold. There was Fran, sleeping. His right arm covering his eyes, frog cap off. Aoi didn't bother to switch on the lights.

She shook him awake. "Fran, Fran," she said his name repeatedly. The blood was starting to soak her hanky.

"Ungg… what is it Aoi?" Fran mumbled, somewhat annoyed at his girlfriend leaving him a while back.

Aoi plopped down on the bed, beside Fran, the box was on her lap. She grinned at him as he sat up.

"What's that?" Fran asked, pointing at the mysterious object.

"Happy Birthday!" it was already five minutes past twelve midnight. Aoi smiled even wider at Fran's shock. They were both getting used to the lighting in the dark room.

"Aa.. I didn't think you'd remember," he muttered.

"Of course I'd remember, I'm your girlfriend right?" she replied, in high spirits.

"Ne, Aoi," Fran said.

"Yes?"

"Let's eat it together," he continued.

"Hm? No way! It's all yours!" Aoi refused, putting her hands up in defense and then winced in pain.

Fran suddenly noticed her bleeding elbow and bandages around each of her fingers but he decided to remain silent. An idea came rushing through his mind. "Okay then," he took a bite and chewed a bit then swallowed. "It's good!" he praised.

Aoi grinned, pleased with herself. Before she could snap herself back to reality, Fran grasped her chin, in no way asking for permission. Then he kissed her full on the lips, long and hard. She was unprepared for what Fran did next. Using his tongue, Fran slipped a morsel of the chocolate cupcake from his mouth to Aoi's.

Fran broke the kiss and grinned. He only ever showed facial expressions he was alone with Aoi. That's the privilege of being his girlfriend. Aoi's face was a mixture of shock, happiness and extreme embarrassment with the extremely close contact with Fran's mouth.

"So, how did it taste like?" he teased.

"S-sweet," Aoi muttered, "Really sweet," she rephrased, still blushing.

"Oh my," Lussuria suddenly exclaimed from the door that Aoi carelessly left ajar. So that's the reason why the room wasn't as dark as it was supposed to be!

Aoi and Fran turned around and saw their teammates staring at them, snickering cheekily.

"Eeeh? What are you guys doing here?" Aoi gasped.

"I wanted to treat that arm of yours," Lussuria grinned, activating his animal box weapon to straighten out Aoi's injuries.

The rest of the Varia (except Xanxus who was on the phone discussing details with a new client) followed suit as Aoi continued to take blushing to new heights of red.

* * *

><p>End (really really for real now! I'll give you a pinky promise.)<p>

*cough sniff cough sniff* I still want to write another chapter though…

School's officially starting tomorrow! (OAO) *gasp* wish me luck!


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